The BMW i8 is on its way out. While there have been conflicting reports about whether or not a successor will be made, we have some info that says it will be revived. However, the i8 as we now know it will soon be gone. And that’s a bit sad, despite the fact that it’s just not a competitive car anymore.
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When the BMW i8 first debuted back in 2014, it was a mind-blowing machine. Its blend of spaceship looks, cutting-edge powertrain tech and surprising performance made it an instant hit among car enthusiasts and journalists alike. Sure, it lacked even a decent pure EV range and it wasn’t quite as fast as other cars in its segment but it was a car that looked and felt special, so it was pretty universally liked.
It’s hard not to like it, to be honest. Last year I had an i8 Roadster press car for a week in the Summer and I loved it. By that time, it was already a dated machine, with performance and powertrain tech that were both behind the times. Still, it was such a special feeling thing, such an interesting and exciting automobile, that it was hard to not fall in love with.
That being said, the BMW i8 needs to go. It’s past its expiration date by some time now and BMW needs to replace it with something much more high-tech and up-to-date. I know it’s a bit odd to say that that i8 isn’t high-tech or up-to-date because it looks like the sort of car you’d find on an advanced alien planet. But under the futuristic body lies a powertrain that is so vanilla it also powers the Countryman S E. When your six-figure hybrid supercar also has the same powertrain as a family-sized people mover, it’s time for an update.
BMW has the tech and the means to replace it with something special. Its advanced new EV powertrains are very impressive and have been proven to pack a ton of power, efficiency and technology. BMW is also one of the best in the business at making high-tech chassis, be it of carbon fiber, aluminum or a mixture of the two. So it can come up with something entirely new and completely up to date to replace the BMW i8, of that I have no doubt.
According to what we’ve learned, there will be another BMW i8 with a much more powerful powertrain, better technology and even sportier handling. And that’s great, we can’t wait to see what it is. But the first-gen i8 will always be a car with a special place in our hearts.
I will always be fond of the BMW i8. It’s way past its time and seriously needs to be replaced but it’s a car that I’ll always have a fondness for, even long after it’s gone. Maybe used ones will be cheap in a couple of years. That could be fun. Au revoir, i8.
New CEO’s strolling in and out of the company is a real issue.
You can’t have long term planning or investment when every new CEO needs to destroy what the previous one built.
Like GM. The Volt should have gotten a real suspension and an improved interior, and a hatchback, or wagon design to fix rear seat headroom. Instead, they just cancel the project.
But, I can see BMW NA isn’t selling many…
Not sure, and hopefully he isn’t, but new CEO is rumoured to be a penny-pinching bean counter. If he makes conservative moves killing off sportscars, supercars etc and preferring to completely stick to sedans and SUVs, that strategy will fail within 3-5 years. If anyone hasn’t noticed, people (even Generation Z) actually want fun cars at affordable prices and buyer sentiment is trending that way evidenced by reactions to Corvette C8. Exotic fun supercars (or supercar-lite) priced affordably will make a solid run in the next five to ten years.
No “strolling in and out of the company”, they hire from from within before rotating to supervisory board, current & previous CEOs with BMW for decades.
I really hope they don’t kill this design after the successor. I love it.
The CF chassis is still way ahead. Only the electronics and mechanical items need replacement.
There should definitely be a generation 2 of this car.
The main problem with it is it is now 3 BMW management regimes old and all the project engineers who brought it into being are working somewhere else.
BMW only have themselves to blame, they chose to make a compromised car. It’s baffling not a single top-level person looked at the car’s beautiful design, its dihedral doors, its carbon-fibre chassis etc and reasoned having a 3 cylinder engine in it was ridiculous. Toyota Prius has a hybrid 3 cylinder in it. Supercars or performance hybrids are not eco-warrior vehicles and a simple gauge/survey of the intent of buyers in that segment would’ve saved BMW the decision they’re now being forced to make shutting i8 down earlier than planned. Hopefully this signals production version of M Next is brought forward and a hybrid 6 or 8 cylinders drivetrain is used on it whilst hybrid 4 cylinder can be for its base variant.
Despite it being around for a while, the i8 still attracts attention. It’s a good-looking car and I like it. I think BMW rather half-arsed the i8 with the hybrid and three-cylinder engine. They should have either made it non-hybrid and installed the B48 inline six engine, but it being an i-car, just gone all electric with it. I hope the next one (if there is going to be another) will be battery electric only.
Why be sad? i8 served as design, tech., engineering, production showcase, never intended for volume, nor to compete with existing ICE. Entire time it served as halo marketing tool, hybrid drivetrain was also powering multiple volume PHEV. Since when do BMW do what others do?