BMW unveils the Concept Active Tourer in Paris

Finally, the gates of the Paris Motor Show are open… Release the concepts! First off, BMW presented an interesting  five-door hatchback dubbed the BMW Concept Active Tourer. The vehicle is a four-wheel drive hybrid, with a transversely-mounted engine that drive the front wheels and an electic motor for the rear ones. It has been built on BMW’s new UKL1 platform that has been specially developed for the upcoming 2013 entry-level lineup and the next generation Mini.

Under the bonnet, this Concept Active Tourer, has a 1.5-liter TwinTurbo 3-cylinder engine that works together with an electric motor and a lithium-ion battery. The combined power sums up to 188 HP – 140 kW and 200 Nm of torque which is pretty much enough to launch the vehicle from a stanstill to 100km/h in “less than eight seconds”, BMW officials stated. The new petrol engine will be available in a future small BMW, across the new MINI lineup and also in the i8. The C.A.T. can reach a top speed of “around 120mph” (around 200km/h) and it can also be driven on electricity alone for about 30km. We should also mention that BMW officials added that the vehicle will return “more than 113 mpg UK” with CO2 emissions of “under 60g/km”.

The BMW Concept Active Tourer is an interesting step forward for BMW, one that will certainly make the recently introduced B-Class “sweat” a little bit.