Though it’s not scheduled to go on sale until 2013, BMW’s upcoming Megacity Vehicle will appear in near-production form one year earlier, at the 2012 Olympics Games taking place in London. BMW is the official automotive partner for the 2012 games so you can bet that a small fleet of the zero-emission Megacity Vehicles will be carrying officials to and from events throughout the days of the Games.
The Olympic Games has consistently proven to be the most watched event on television, with global audiences ranging into the billions, and this makes it an ideal platform to unveil a car that will revolutionize the way mainstream cars are engineered and built.
The new Megacity Vehicle will be an all-electric minicar able to seat four and employ a vast array of lightweight composite materials in its construction to boost efficiency as much as possible. Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) will play a large role in the car's construction, and accordingly it will be built by BMW in its Leipzig plant as a joint venture with SGL Carbon and SGL Automotive Fibers. The actual carbon fiber material will be sourced from right here in the U.S.
Not much else is known about the Megacity Vehicle but it’s expected to sport a 134 horsepower electric motor running on lithium-ion batteries and driving the rear axle. A range-extended version complete with a compact internal combustion engine acting as a generator will also likely be launched. For more information, check out our more detailed report over at MotorAuthority.com.
[Autocar]
