Tesla, the electric car startup in California has put the automotive industry on notice with the Model S. With impressive range and the model stealing sales from luxury makers, automakers are wondering how best to compete with the Model S. Car Magazine learned about what BMW has planned.
Known internally as F18, the new model will utilize a long-wheelbase version of the next-generation 5-Series sedan. The next-generation 5-Series will be one the first models to use a new modular platform known as Cluster Architecture (CLAR) which will underpin models from the 3 to 7-Series. The new architecture will allow F18 - or as Car calls it the i5/i7 - to share many components such as suspension, steering, and brakes from the 5-Series.
Power will come front two electric motors and a four-cylinder engine. Total output is expected to be around 400kw - about 536 horsepower. As for design, the report says it could be a mixture of 6-Series Gran Coupe and the next-generation 7-Series.
Now the model is expected to come out in 2018. This date makes sense as that will be the time when the U.S.' CAFE regulation that 4.5 percent of vehicles sold must be a zero emission vehicle goes into affect.
Source: Car Magazine
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