The BMW i8 is the first series-produced plug-in hybrid sports car in 2014. It is synonymous with sustainability today, and continues to make an impression as an innovation driver.
The BMW i8 combines many unique attributes: sports car, coupé or roadster, pioneer, brand-shaper, innovator, future-oriented design.
BMW i8 is an elegant vehicle with a ‘crazy’ innovation, and outshines almost every newer vehicle – and not just the sporty ones.
The BMW i8 combines many unique attributes. Apart from it being a sports car, it is also a coupé or roadster, pioneer, brand-shaper, innovator and a future-oriented design.
The sophisticated design of the BMW i8 can be traced back to the concept study BMW Vision EfficientDynamics, which was first presented to the public at the 2009 International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt, Germany.
The production version of the BMW i8 had a flat front hood, air curtains in the front apron, a paneled underbody and air ducts between the taillights and the roof frame.
The 2009 concept study featured gullwing doors, a plug-in hybrid, all-wheel drive – and all of these features also shaped the production version.
The BMW i8 is resource-efficient and environmentally friendly with a technology of an electric propulsion system. The fact is, there isn’t just one BMW i8 engine – the BMW sports car’s drive unit consists of both a combustion engine and an electric engine.
The combustion engine with BMW TwinPower Turbo technology provides power to the rear wheels, while the electric motor drives the front wheels. The result is an all-wheel drive.
A high degree of traction is therefore always guaranteed – as well as necessary. The car has 250 Nm torque electric engine and a 320 Nm of the combustion engine. The car delivers sports car numbers for acceleration.
At the same time, if desired, the hybrid sports car can reach speeds of up to around 75 mph (120 km/h) in electric mode, meaning locally emission-free. Fuel consumption is low. This is a sports car that can well and truly count itself among the ranks of low emission cars.
The BMW i8 horsepower figure for the car’s system output was 369 hp, or 275 kW. It achieves figures of less than five seconds for the standard 0-60 mph sprint test (and for the roughly equivalent 0-100 km/h sprint test).
The BMW i8 comes with, an all-electric mode and a range of over 30 miles (50 kilometre) in the statutory test cycle.
The chassis and body are no less revolutionary than the propulsion system. The passenger cell is made of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) and is combined with an aluminum chassis: perfection in lightweight construction.
With a deep and central location of the battery, the vehicle boasts a very low center of gravity – with the result that the driving experience tends to come out high on the driving pleasure scale.
The materials used included leather tanned with an extract from olive tree leaves, innovative textiles containing polyester granulate partly derived from recycled PET, and aluminum that was mostly obtained through recycling.
BMW i8 was the world’s first production vehicle that could be equipped with laser headlights, which considerably reduce the lighting systems’ energy consumption when it was launched.
And, of course, the main advantage is that the increased light output improves driving safety.
