BMW’s green stunner

7 Aug, 2009 6:32pm Sam Hardy Comments

Four-door coupé to star at Frankfurt show complete with three-cylinder turbo and hybrid drivetrain

Here’s our best look yet at BMW’s new environmentally friendly show stopper! Using insider information, Auto Express can bring you a sneak preview of the hotly anticpated eco concept, which will make its world debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month.

Following on from a previous story, we’ve learned the newcomer is set to take the form of a stunning four-door coupé. And as you can see from our main image, it will turn heads with a mix of classic BMW design cues and a modern, aggressive coupé shape.

It’s likely to be called the EfficientDynamics Vision, and will feature the latest evolution of BMW’s fuel-saving, emissions-reducing technologies. Power could come from a new turbocharged three-cylinder engine, along with a hybrid drivetrain.

Development of the latter has already been carried out ready for use on ActiveHybrid versions of the firm’s X6 and 7-Series.

In addition, the concept will debut a new design direction, with a return to the legendary ‘shark nose’. This look is likely to appear on the next 1-Series and 3-Series. The Vision could even give us a first glimpse of the new 6-Series, due in 2011 as a two and four-door coupé, as well as a convertible.

In a related story, BMW has confirmed an electric city car is coming, following in the wheel tracks of 1994’s Z13 concept. But bosses have scotched rumours that this will resurrect the Isetta name. Instead, they say it will be a BMW, with a new badge similar to the firm’s M cars – it could be called E or EV. A Samsung and Bosch joint venture will supply the car’s lithium-ion batteries. Sales are due to start in 2014.

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