2015 BMW i8: Sexy Plug-In Hybrid Sport Coupe Coming Later This Year

With awareness of the 2014 BMW i3 battery-electric car starting to rise--it will arrive at dealers in late April or early May--it's sometimes easy to forget that BMW has a second plug-in car following close behind.

And unlike the i3, whose looks are controversial, there's very little debate over the design of the 2015 BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sport coupe.

MORE: 2015 BMW i8 Live Photo Gallery: 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show

Pretty much everyone thinks it looks just fantastic.

And that's even before neat technological breakthroughs like the laser headlights.

And adding to the style quotient, we learned today--courtesy of an excited BMW press release--that famed French luxury brand Louis Vuitton will be offering custom-fitted carbon-fiber luggage for the i8.

The two travel bags are described as "a business case and a garment bag," each one "tailor-made to fit perfectly into the interior" of the plug-in hybrid sports car.

But lots of makers offer elegant, sexy sport coupes--think Aston Martin, Ferrari, Porsche, and the rest.

Granted that its body shell is made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) riding on an aluminum platform carrying the crash structures and running gear, it's still the plug-in hybrid powertrain--BMW's first--that really sets the i8 apart.

Its rear-mounted and turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine, adapted from one used in the latest 2014 MINI Cooper, provides an output of 231 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque, and drives the rear wheels through a six-speed automatic gearbox.

The car has a liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack with a usable capacity of 5 kilowatt-hours, housed in a wide tunnel between the two seats. It powers an electric motor driving the front wheels that's rated at 96 kilowatts (131 hp) and 184 lb-ft of torque.