After leaving most car enthusiasts wondering what’s next when it introduced the all electric BMW i3, BMW released some details about the upcoming plug-in hybrid i8. At a test track showing off the sports car, BMW revealed that the i8 will be the first car to use Gorilla Glass for its windows.
Specifically, the rear window will be outfitted with Gorilla Glass — two 0.7mm layers will be slapped together with an acoustic sheet inside. Yes, the same Gorilla Glass that’s on your smartphone. Using the thin Gorilla Glass supposedly helped BMW keep weight off the i8.
Other details: a mid-mounted turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder spits out 231hp while a front-mounted electric motor pushes 131 horses for a total of 362hp, 420lb-ft of torque, 95mpg, an electronically limited top speed of 249kph, zero to 60mph (95kph) in 4.5 seconds and a whole lot of carbon fibre like the i3. [Wired, Autoblog, Autoweek]
