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Late last year it was confirmed that production of the BMW i8 hybrid sports car could be increased on the back of high demand. Now Automotive News Europe has learnt that the German marque has in fact doubled i8 production at the Leipzig production facility.

The boost in production means that 20 examples of the BMW i8 are rolling out of the factory daily. As a result of the production increase, it is suggested that waiting lists for the i8 have dropped to around four months from a previous high of 18 months in some parts of the world.

It remains to be seen how BMW has increased i8 production but it seems likely that a number of new shifts have been added with more workers also now playing a role in the i8’s construction.

As a reminder, the BMW i8 is of course the second model from BMW’s new BMW i-Series. It is intended as a sports car and provides a forward-looking, revolutionary interpretation of BMW’s hallmark driving experience. It is a 2+2-seater with a design that BMW refer to as LifeDrive architecture. It gets a “life module” passenger cell made from carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP), as you would expect from any premium sports car. Total weight is just 1,490 kg, bearing in mind the plug-in hybrid architecture.

The production-spec i8 was of course revealed to the public last year at the Frankfurt Auto Show with production commencing in April. The drive system utilises a brand new three-cylinder petrol engine with BMW TwinPower Turbo technology. From 1.5 litres, the i8 manages an output of 231 hp, a maximum torque of 320 Nm. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed automatic gearbox. The petrol engine is supplemented by an electric motor with an output of 131 hp and maximum torque of 250 Nm. The power from this lithium-ion high-voltage battery is channelled through the front wheels via a two-stage automatic transmission.

[Via Automotive News Europe]

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