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A new convertible sports car is joining BMW‘s range of hybrid electric vehicles.

Revealed by the German company at the Los Angeles Auto Show this morning, the i8 Roadster is a two-seater model with an retractable soft top.

The car has a hybrid engine, which combines battery and petrol-combustion power, and allows the car to “sprint” solely using electricity. The battery has an electric range of up to 55 kilometres, and the vehicle can go from zero to 100 kilometres per hour (kph) in 4.4 seconds, reaching speeds up to 250 kph.

The unveiling follows rival electric car company Tesla’s preview of its updated Roadster earlier this month, as most of the major auto brands continue to move towards electric power.

The BMW i8 Roadster has a similar look to the four-seater i8 Coupe, released in 2014.

Features include gull-wing doors, which hinge at the roof rather than the sides, and gullies along the chassis that channel air past the car. The tail lights wrap around the resulting gaps at the back.

However, BMW’s senior vice president of design Adrian van Hooydonk told journalists that the i8 Roadster “does not have the typical design language of its breed”.

He pointed out that elements like a rear spoiler and a quad exhaust, typical of sports cars, are purposefully not included on this model.

BMW’s signature kidney-shaped grill is echoed on the front of the car, but is closed to provide an area for embedded sensors.

Materials including carbon fibre and processes like additive manufacturing are used to make the vehicle as lightweight as possible.

Also at the LA Auto Show, BMW is presenting an updated version of the i8 Coupe, and the fully electric i Vision Dynamics – first seen at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2017.

Furthermore, the company has committed to rolling out electric and hybrid-electric options across 25 of its models by 2025, in preparation for countries like UK and France banning the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles from 2040.

The LA Auto Show takes place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, with public access from 1 to 10 December 2017.

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