BMW’s Vision EfficientDynamics concept, which will formally debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show today, sports two electric motors, a production-ready small diesel and marks ground zero for the sweeping away of an entire generation of so-called “flame surfacing” from controversial former design chief Chris Bangle.

Its design sets the theme for a series of upcoming BMW road cars and proves BMW is discarding the worst excesses of the flame design theory in favor of a lighter, less heavy, more aggressive look.

BMW uses a diesel-electric hybrid system and the layout is more conventional, with the engine up front, driving the rear wheels through the M3’s Getrag double-clutch six-speed gearbox.

The engine, with 163 horsepower and 214 lb-ft. of torque, is all aluminum and produces more power than the 116d’s existing 2.0-liter turbo-diesel BMW engine.

The engine gets crushing acceleration by using two electric motors ahead of the gearbox. One of these drives the front wheels under acceleration and the other helps the diesel engine out by adding its torque to the rear axles.

While the motor for the rear wheels produces only 33 horsepower, it has 214 lb-ft. of torque (or, as much again as the diesel engine in its strongest part of the rev range), though it can be over boosted to 51 horsepower.

The front motor is a different type, producing more power (80 horsepower), but less torque (162 lb-ft.), even though it can flit to over 134 horsepower in hard acceleration.

The battery pack to power the electric motors sits inside the chassis tunnel and weighs 187 lbs. and, like the Benz concept, it is a Lithium-ion unit. Inside, the battery has 98 lithium polymer cells which generate 364 Volts and can store 10.8kW/h of electricity.
The strange thing is that the battery is charged as the car is running from the engine and from regenerative braking, or it can be charged as a plug-in from normal 220 Volt/16 Amp systems in two-and-a-half hours.

BMW claims, then, that the car produces 356 horsepower and 590 lb-ft. of torque and, given that it weighs only 3,075 lbs., it will be something of a rocket in a straight line.

It is claiming 0-62 mph times of just 4.8 seconds and it has been limited to 155 mph – both numbers that bring to mind the M3. Almost the exact opposite of the M3, though, is how many resources it consumes to get its performance.

BMW insists its concept will stretch to 75.1 mpg Imperial (about 63 mpg U.S.) with a CO2 number below 100 g/km and, it says, people should be prepared for consumption and emission numbers like this to become more common from its brand as hybrid drive systems infiltrate its range of cars.

The car is also capable of running as either a pure diesel or a pure electric car, where it gets a range of 31 miles before the diesel offers another 400 miles of driving on its 6.6 gallon tank.

As the first car of the new, Adrian von Hooydonk era of design at BMW, it also offers strong hints about where BMW wants to take its super critical new-generation 3- and 5-Series. von Hooydonk has taken over as the BMW Group’s design boss and has used the Vision EfficientDynamics to experiment with acres of glass, an all-new interior concept.

At 181 inches long, the slinky concept has four seats and, at 74 inches wide and 48.8 inches tall, is only just bigger than the existing 3-Series coupe.

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