The BMW i8 Concept Spyder features laser headlights among other innovations.
The BMW i8 Concept Spyder features laser headlights among other innovations. BMW

BMW has built a car with laser headlights (that's right, you read correctly, the car has lasers), and it's called the i8 Concept Spyder. Moreover, its production release date is scheduled for 2014, so pretty soon you and James Bond can both have lasers on your car -- for a price.

The headlights on the car are actually laser light technology, and the laser light is diffused through a phosphorous filter. ... We are actively pursuing this technology for production vehicles, a BMW spokesman said.

The BMW i8 Concept Spyder is a plug-in hybrid combining a lithium-ion battery-powered electric motor and a three-cylinder, turbocharged internal combustion engine. The package delivers 354 horsepower combined.

The laser headlights are there to help maximize battery life and minimize the car's electricity consumption. Laser headlights specifically benefit EVs and plugin hybrids. They use so much less electricity than even LEDs, the BMW spokesman said.

The car has other high-tech touches as well. The i8 Concept Spyder was built using multiple independent units, a system BMW is calling LifeDrive architecture.

LifeDrive is a fusion of independent functional units. For example, the carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) Life module gives the car an extremely lightweight passenger cell, while the Drive modules -- made primarily from aluminium components -- bring together all the car's operational driving functions, according to BMW.

The different sections and joints visible in pictures of the car are the result of combining the LifeDrive modules, and the car was deliberately styled by BMW to display the architectural structure.

The production car is expected to cost somewhere north of €100,000, ($133,000), the spokesman said.

The futuristic and topless BMW i8 Concept Spyder will not be at the New York International Auto Show 2012, but people will be able to catch a glimpse when it debuts at the 2012 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in May, the company said.

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