Aussies cue up for hybrid BMW supercar

How the world has changed. If you told colleagues 10 years ago that you had put down a deposit on a battery-powered car, they would think you meant a child’s toy from Toys R Us.

Now such a car can be very much an adult toy, and none as much as the BMW i8 hybrid supercar, which could cost a quarter of a million dollars.

During the first local unveiling of the i8 at BMW Sydney this week, BMW Australia Managing Director Phil Horton revealed his company holds 15 orders for its i8 -- albeit from customers who do not have a firm price or availability date, and who probably haven’t even set eyes on an i8 yet.

“We’ve actually got 15 pre-orders on [the i8], which probably says more about the instant appeal of the hybrid car. We’re talking about people who’ve actually put money down on the cars.

Horton said he’s expecting up to 50 of the i8 supercars to be sold in 2015.

The i8 has a 170kW turbo-charged three-cylinder petrol engine driving the rear wheels and a 96kW electric motor driving the front wheels, making for 266kW and 570Nm total peak outputs.

BMW claims its supercar hybrid can achieve a rest to 100km/h time of 4.4 seconds using full engine/motor performance and yet can run on its electric motor for up to 35km with a top speed of 120km/h.

Average fuel consumption is expected to be less than 2.1L/100km and CO2 emissions less than 49g/km.