BMW unveils hybrid car details

BMW will use the Frankfurt Motor Show later this month to unveil its latest high-performance concept car – a turbo-diesel hybrid electric design called the Vision.

The company claims that the car can run for 31 miles on electric power, emitting only 99g/km of carbon in the process.

The car sports a conventional 1.5-litre turbo-diesel engine and a 10.kW battery pack, which takes about 2.5 hours to charge from a 240-volt household socket.

BMW states that the vehicle will be capable of 0-62mph in less than five seconds, while achieving overall fuel economy of 62.6 mpg.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “When people imagine an environmentally-friendly vehicle they perhaps do not visualise a car that can accelerate to 60mph in four seconds in near silence, but these are the designs that grab headlines”