The reasons why BMW may axe its unusually-styled electric cars back for a second act may surprise you.

BMW showed the funky ‘pretertype’ to visitors at the BMW exhibition center in Munich, Germany, and it quickly got shut down.

Once you see a Zapdos, a flying bird-like Pokemon with a talent for electricity, it’ll all make sense.

Hybrids have moved beyond the realm of money-saving appliances into full-blown sports car territory. This year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance served as proof of how accepted such machines are by huge names in the world of motorsports.

BMW has been expanding its model lineup considerably the past couple of years with new models appearing in nearly every segment, and it seems the plug-in hybrid realm will be no different. Allow me to introduce you to BMW’s new “FAST”, which stands for Family Active Sports Tourer.

BMW must be allergic to vinyl because the psychedelic vinyl wrapping in these spy shots does little to hide what’s supposed to be a disguised developmental vehicle. In fact, from certain angles, the test mule tells you you’re looking at a “Hybrid Test Vehicle” – the plug-in hybrid version of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, to be exact.

For those of you who have been screaming, “BMW is losing its way!”, sharpening pitchforks and what not, the i8 may be your idea of the perfect thing to burn in effigy. It’s a hybrid, automatic, AWD. It’s not an E30 M3 — gasp! But in my brief ride up a canyon with Mr. Harris, I felt a chassis that is eager to turn, corners very flat, and felt quite fast, even without thousands of horsepower. Imagine that. A bit “BMW” of them, don’t you think?