BMW confirms i8 Roadster, long-range i3 and more M cars

BMW has announced its future plans for its i sub-brand that includes pushing the long-awaited i8 Roadster into production and offering a long-range version of its pure-electric i3.

Announcing its plans at its Annual Accounts press conference in Munich, the German car-maker said more electric vehicles were in the pipeline and more class-leading autonomous driving technology was on the way.

Celebrating a 66 per cent increase in i-badged vehicles, last year BMW said it sold 24,057 i3s and 5456 i8 supercars.

Appearing on stage with the i8 Roadster concept, that was last shown at Consumer Electronics Show in January, the BMW execs also announced that the convertible i8 had been green lit for production and that by the end of 2016 an i3 will go on sale that features an increased battery capacity and a longer range.

Boosting the number of i models to seven vehicles, the German car-maker didn’t confirm what other models it is developing, but the product plans are thought to involve introducing a new pure-electric and hybrid-powered sports sedan. Thought to be called the ’i5’, the new i model is set to uses the hybrid tech introduced on the i8. It’s also thought the new sport sedan will also be based on a modified version of the BMW supercar’s carbon-fibre monocoque.

What was announced is engineers are developing a plug-in hybrid version of the MINI, but no dates were given when the hybrid hatch will go on sale. Nor was it confirmed, which model in the British car-maker’s line-up, gets the plug-in tech.

As well as expanding the i range of models BMW also revealed it is continuing to develop its hydrogen fuel-cell technology and that its current mules already had a range of up to 700km.

During the press conference, BMW also said that is making progress with its autonomous driving tech. Launching a new R&D program called ‘Project i 2.0’, the brand has been developing digital maps, cloud-based software and artificial intelligence needed for fully autonomous vehicles.

BMW claims its new tech will help it “lead the field of autonomous technology”.

Currently, BMW only offers its self-driving tech in the new 7 Series that can steer and maintain a safe distance from the vehicle ahead up to speeds of 210km/h on the highway.

Another new vehicle mentioned in the press conference was the forthcoming BMW X7 SUV that set to square up to the Mercedes-Benz GL and Range Rover.

The German car-maker also said it plans further expansion of the M product range, witnessed by the recent launch of the M2 coupe.

BMW said it will also roll-out more M Performance models like the recently announced M760i.