BMW i8 key fob holds a surprise in your hand

The only thing that BMW has officially said about the key fob for the upcoming i8 is that it's made with eco-friendly materials. Like a biopolymer made with castor bean oil and glass fiber. But, according to a leaked picture on Bimmerfile, there will be something a lot cooler built into the thing you'll always have with you when you drive the i8: a connected screen telling you charging status of the car and the range in the battery pack.

We'd like to think the tiny smartphone-like fob will be able to do more than that, and the Apple-like dots at the bottom of the image imply that it will. We're fine if it doesn't play Angry Birds, but we'll be sad if this is just a clever manipulated image. Bimmerfile says the high-resolution LCD screen key will also be able to turn the i8's pre-conditioning on and off. We do know that all of the keys for the i3 and the i8 that we've held and seen in the wild look nothing like this, but we're hoping to be pleasantly surprised. After all, BMW is pouring a lot of cool new tech into the Project i vehicles, including the ability to plan walking and public transportation routes from the car's navigation system in the i3 and optional energy-saving LED laser headlights in the i8.