• Sat, 2014-07-26 10:30
    • /Scott
    BMW News

    BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition—the only one—will be auctioned at Pebble Beach August 16.

    Deliveries of the new BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car to U.S. customers will begin this fall, and BMW has chosen a very American time and place to celebrate the U.S. arrival of the i8. On August 16, during the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, BMW will introduce—and auction off—a one-of-a-kind BMW i8 Concours d’Elegance Edition. 
     
    The only BMW i8 Concours d’Elegance Edition ever will feature Frozen Grey Metallic exterior paint, a BMW Individual color. Dalbergia Brown leather will cover the interior features; this leather is tanned using dye derived from plant extracts. BMW i Blue stitching will accent the upholstery.
     
    BMW has selected the Pure Impulse Tera World interior for this i8, which will include other trim accents in BMW i Blue—including the seat belts. “BMW i8” will be embossed into the front headrests. The words “Concours d’Elegance Edition" will be laser-etched in the interior, a feature no other BMW i8 will ever have.
     

    This special edition will include laser headlights. It will be the first car in the U.S. to have this technology, which extends the high-beam illumination out to 600 yards. Laser  headlights are still pending DOT approval, so if necessary, they will be retrofitted when they are approved. The new owner of the i8 Concours d’Elegance edition will also receive a BMW i8 Display key with integrated LCD touchscreen and the Professional Edition of BMW’s Charging Station.

    The BMW i8’s all-wheel-drive powertrain uses an electric motor to drive the front wheels and a powerful and efficient 1.5-liter BMW TwinPower Turbo three-cylinder gasoline engine driving the rear wheels. It can drive on pure electric power at speeds up to 75 mph for approximately 20 miles, producing zero tailpipe emissions. When the gasoline engine works in concert with the electric motor, they can propel the i8 from zero to 60 miles per hour in 4.2 seconds. Top speed is an electronically limited 155 miles per hour.

    Lightweight aluminum and carbon-fiber reinforced plastic help reduce the car’s overall weight, which in turn makes the i8 as fuel efficient as some subcompact cars. Its lithium-ion battery pack can be charged from any 240-volt level 2 charging station as well as conventional 110-volt outlets.

    The sale of this one-of-a-kind car at the Pebble Beach Auctions will be handled by Gooding & Company on Saturday, August 16 in the Pebble Beach Special Events area. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the Pebble Beach Company Foundation and the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. If you’d like to bid, or just watch a live stream of the auction, go to http://www.goodingco.com.

    Pebble Beach—the concours as well as the auctions—has always represented the pinnacle of automotive excellence in the style, originality, and presentation of the world’s most beautiful cars. The BMW i8 Concours d’Elegance Edition will fit right in.—Scott Blazey