BMW reveals plans to build compact hybrid cars

Bavarian auto maker BMW has revealed its plans to produce a compact or small sized hybrid vehicle via BMW’s Chairman Norbert Reithofer at BMW Group’s Annual Accounts Press Conference. This project, which is called the Megacity Vehicle project, is part of BMW’s Project-i.

According to the chairman, “This vehicle will be the first of a range of near-zero emission vehicles. Customers will have the choice between a fully electric drive and a high-efficiency combustion engine. Large-scale production could start in the first half of the next decade. With the Megacity Vehicle project, we are also pursuing a radical approach toward establishing a truly sustainable value chain-from development to production and sales.”

We not sure if there would be two types of vehicles (fully electric or with a high-efficient combustion engine), or the chairman is actually referring to one particular hybrid that would offer both. Reithofer also went to mention that this vehicle will not carry another badge, meaning it should be sold either as a MINI or a BMW.

The first vehicle which is part of the Project-i is the MINI E, that is currently performing customer testing via public leasing trials. Can recent reports regarding BMW’s plans to co-produce platforms for small sized vehicles with Fiat have anything to do with this?