Flame away: BMW Vision EfficientDynamics

BMW's Vision EfficientDynamics concept is sure to draw massive crowds in Frankfurt when it goes on display at the German motor show next month.

The hybrid design study marks Ground Zero for the sweeping away of an entire generation of so-called "Flame Surfacing" -- the hallmark of controversial former design chief, Chris Bangle.

Underneath the astonishing design, there lies a new kind of environmentally friendly sports car still capable of outsprinting the M3. While people will hope it goes into production, BMW insists it is merely a showcase for its light-weight technology, hybrid-drive systems, interior ideas and even design concepts. According to the manufacturer, the Vision EfficientDynamics will strut its stuff on the global show circuit, then head straight into BMW's recently renovated museum in Munich.

But its design sets the theme for a series of upcoming BMW road cars and proves BMW is discarding the worst excesses of the Flame Design theory in favour of a lighter, but more aggressive look.

As the first car of the new era of design at BMW -- under the aegis of Adrian van Hooydonk -- it offers strong hints about where BMW wants to take its super critical new-generation 3- and 5-Series. Van Hooydonk has taken over as the BMW Group's design boss and has used the Vision EfficientDynamics to experiment with acres of glass, an all-new interior concept.

The radically styled hybrid design study is powered by two electric motors and a production-ready small diesel. BMW is debuting this diesel powerplant -- an all-new common-rail three-cylinder turbodiesel displacing 1.5 litres -- in this car ahead of its future duties in the 1-Series and 3-Series model ranges.

Developing 163 horsepower (122kW) and 214lb ft of torque (290Nm), the diesel is all-aluminium and produces more power than the 116d's existing 2.0-litre turbo-diesel BMW engine. The engine sits in the front of the car, driving the rear wheels through the M3's Getrag double-clutch six-speed gearbox.

In the Vision ED application the diesel forms the key part of a hybrid-drive system, featuring one electric motor driving to the front wheels and a second electric motor providing additional power to the rear wheels.

While the electric motor for the rear wheels produces only 25kW of power, it has 214lb ft of torque (or, as much again as the diesel engine in its strongest part of the rev range), though it can be overboosted to 38kW.

The front motor is a different matter, producing more power (60kW), but less torque (162lb ft/220Nm), even though it can flit to over 100kW in hard acceleration.

BMW claims the car produces 356bhp (265kW) and 590lb ft of torque (800Nm) in total and, given that it weighs only 1395kg, it will be something of a rocket in a straight line.

According to company estimates, the Vision ED will peel off a 0-100km/h time of just 4.8 seconds and the car is limited to 250km/h -- both numbers that bring to mind the M3. It's almost the exact opposite of the M3, though, in how many resources it consumes to extract that performance.

BMW insists its concept will stretch to 75.1MPG (3.8L/100km) with a CO2 number below 100g/km and, it says, people should be prepared for consumption and emission numbers like this to become more common from its brand as hybrid drive systems infiltrate its range of cars.

The car is also capable of running as either a pure diesel or a pure electric car, where it gets a range of 50km before the diesel offers another 400 miles of driving on its 25 litre tank.

The Lithium-ion battery pack to power the electric motors sits inside the chassis tunnel and weighs 85kg. Inside, the battery has 98 lithium polymer cells which generate 364 Volts and can store 10.8kW/h of electricity.

BMW's system permits the battery to be recharged from the engine and from regenerative braking, or it can be charged as a plug-in from normal 220-Volt/16-Amp systems in two and a half hours.

At 4600mm long, the slinky concept has four seats and, at 1900mm wide and 1240mm long, is only just bigger than the existing 3-Series coupe.

On paper, it reads like Chevrolet's Volt -- as BMW would have designed it.

-- with staff

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