Benoit Jacob was the designer of the BMW i8 in production. 2013 Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez was followed by the 2013 International Motor Show Germany, where the production model was unveiled. The BMW M1 Homage concept car, which itself pays homage to BMW’s last mid-engined sports car in production before the i8, had a significant effect on its design.
Butterfly doors, a head-up display, rearview cameras, and partially fake engine noise were all features of the BMW i8. Customer car series production started in April 2014. The two-speed electric drivetrain was created and manufactured by GKN. As opposed to LED headlights, it was the first production vehicle using laser headlights.
The i8 had a low drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.26 and a vehicle weight of 1,485 kg (3,274 lb) (DIN kerb weight). The top speed of the BMW i8 in all-electric mode was 120 km/h (75 mph). The i8 achieved a midrange acceleration from 50 to 75 mph (80 to 120 km/h) in 2.6 seconds when in Sport mode. 250 km/h was the electronically controlled peak speed (155 mph).
In December 2019, one of the restricted Ultimate Sophisto Edition models, the 20,000th i8, was created. On June 11 of 2020, the final i8 left the factory. 20,465 vehicles were made in total, with 16,581 coupes and 3,884 roadsters.
In This Article...
The End was Silent.
If you believe that the most recent health crisis played any role in this BMW’s demise, you are mistaken. The final year this car was produced was the 2020 model year, which concluded in April of that year. Plans had already been made, and announcements appeared to have been concealed in the introduction of additional electric and hybrid automobiles under the BMW name.
Was the i8 too far in the future for its day? Was the price tag excessive given the amount of power it generated? Did BMW merely choose the incorrect path when creating a car?
It’s far easier to answer than any of those questions since BMW is prepared to increase the number of electric and hybrid cars in its inventory, which means there isn’t room for a unicorn-like sports car. It’s unfortunate since the i8 was a fascinating automobile.
BMW will stop producing the i8, its ultra-futuristic sports car. This is how it became the most popular vehicle of its class.
- BMW will stop making its i8 hybrid sports car in April after six years of manufacturing.
- 2014 saw the introduction of the i8, and BMW went on to sell over 20,000 vehicles. The i8 is now the most well-known sports car of its class, according to BMW.
- With butterfly doors, 374 horsepower, 420 pound-feet of torque, and a 0-to-62-mph pace of 4.4 seconds, the i8 isn’t your standard hybrid.
- An i8 is still available right now. The starting price for the coupe model is $147,500, while the price for the convertible model is $163,300.
Most people associate hybrid vehicles with boring but practical commuter vehicles like the Toyota Prius. However, the BMW i8 served as evidence that even while plug-in hybrids sip gas rather than guzzle it, they do have a place among the envious.
And in April, after six years, its reign as the upcoming sports car will come to an end.
After months of rumors of the i8’s demise, BMW officially honored it last week. It is safe to assume that the decision has nothing to do with the coronavirus epidemic because a corporate spokesman confirmed the news when it first surfaced in January.
When the i8 production line does come to an end, it will be the end of the vehicle that helped many people understand what good fuel efficiency and performance—two things that were once mutually exclusive—look like when they work together. Given the availability of the Porsche 918, Ferrari LaFerrari, and McLaren P1, it wasn’t the only hybrid sports vehicle at the time, but it was more affordable—almost pedestrian—than the others.
Thus, since the i8’s release in 2014, BMW has sold more over 20,000 units, as opposed to the seven-figure P1’s production limit of 375 vehicles. According to BMW, this makes it the best-selling vehicle of its class.
Production of the BMW i8 hybrid sports car will finish in April.
BMW has revealed that the i8 plug-in hybrid sports car’s production will cease the next month, almost six years after it was introduced.
The business has decided to concentrate its engineering efforts on the development of a new range of electric cars, including the iX3 compact SUV, i4 saloon, and iNext SUV flagship. As a result, the Leipzig facility in Germany will stop producing the Porsche 911 rival in the middle of April. Within the next five years, a brand-new electric sports car based on the Vision M Next concept from last year is anticipated.
Since debuting in 2014 as a coupe, the first model to represent the BMW I sub-brand has sold more than 20,000 units globally. In 2018, the model received a facelift, and the open-top BMW i8 roadster model was introduced to the lineup.
BMW commemorates the final i8 rolling off the German assembly line with 18 special models.
The quirky hybrid sports car from BMW has now reached its end of manufacturing, six years after it first appeared on our roads. The remaining 18 vehicles have been given special paint jobs designed by their owners to commemorate the milestone.
The i8 was the first of its type, including cutting-edge lightweight materials, a cutting-edge hybrid powertrain, and a look you’d expect to see on a concept car. It was unveiled at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show. Although its overall performance wasn’t its strongest suit, the nearly 20,000 units it sold over its career prove that it was a welcome addition to the sports car market.
The final examples, which range from Austin Yellow, which was initially spotted on the M4, to British Racing Green and Le Mans Blue, are undoubtedly stunning to behold. The degree of customization in these cars presented some significant logistical and process obstacles, but our I manufacturing unit has once again shown that nothing is impossible, according to plant director Hans-Peter Kemser.
Several components had to be hand-painted to provide a good finish due to the uniqueness of some of the specified colours. Kemser continued, “Yet again, we have demonstrated our capacity to fulfill the highly exacting standards and personal requirements of our customers with exceptional skills and one-of-a-kind solutions. We should all be extremely proud of the fact that the BMW i8 production is coming to an end with such a grand finale.
The hybrid sports car’s production is coming to an end just ahead of BMW’s all-electric effort, which is anticipated to be spearheaded by the i4 saloon that was unveiled in concept form earlier this year.
At the company’s Leipzig facility, the last i8s were handed over to their owners last week.
You must act quickly if you want a BMW i8.
BMW hasn’t formally confirmed this, but if its final orders for custom-built models are due by the end of February, then the i8’s production might finish as early as April 2020. Alternatively, or at the absolute least, when the corporation runs out of the parts it has on the assembly line. The fact that many BMW dealers are already offering the i8 for a significant discount—nearly $25,000 below the $147,500 MSRP—increases the likelihood that Autocar’s report is accurate.
The discontinuation of the i8 portends a few changes for the sports car sector. The i8 is one of just two mid-engined 2+2 automobiles available on the market. Only the Lotus Evora will be left to compete for that minuscule market share after it is no longer produced. The second important change will directly impact BMW’s identity as a business and future direction.
The BMW i8 is it being produced?
The i8 plug-in hybrid from BMW has been produced no more in Leipzig, Germany, after around six years since its debut in 2014.
The project was originally supposed to wrap up in April 2020, but the coronavirus lockdown forced a two-month pause, pushing the deadline back to June.
The German media reported that a total of 20,448 i8s were produced. There has not yet been a direct replacement for the i8 announced.
Will the BMW i8 be phased out?
In June 2020, the BMW i8’s manufacture came to an end after a little over six years. Alpina lost the opportunity to produce its first hybrid or electric vehicle by abandoning the i8 project. BMW doesn’t intend to create a precursor, but it will soon broaden its selection of hybrid vehicles, opening the door for Alpina to someday enter this market.
Since 1965, Alpina has been in business. In the beginning, the company focused on tuning BMW engines for racing, but in the 1980s it changed into an automaker. Alpina has altered several models of the BMW 3 Series, 5 Series, 7 Series, and 8 Series over the years, but it also created a limited-edition Z8 roadster variant.
Now available at BMW dealerships, Alpina models include the B7 and XB7, based on the 7 Series and X7, respectively, in the U.S. lineup.
Is the BMW i8 being replaced?
BMW displayed the Vision M Next design concept, which most likely hinted at the following electric sports car.
Gran Turismo was the beginning of it all. Sean has always had a fascination with things that move thanks to his early PlayStation days. He worked as a freelancer for Motor Authority, The Car Connection, and Green Car Reports before joining the Roadshow team. Sean has a 2016 Chevrolet SS, and it does have Holden badges, in the garage.
Visit the WHO and CDC websites for the most recent news and details regarding the coronavirus epidemic.
It’s probably best if we don’t discover more about the vehicle programs that were canceled as a result of the coronavirus epidemic because doing so simply fuels regrets about what might have been. But regrettably, it appears that the anticipated BMW i8 replacement is no longer an option.
As a result of the coronavirus forcing so many businesses to cut costs, BMW canceled the replacement, according to a story from Germany’s Manager Magazin in late April. Low-selling sports vehicles are never the wisest investments, and as the world frets over the future of the economy, a sports car probably elicited unfavorable responses within BMW. According to the article, the automaker ended the program primarily due to costs. Naturally, we have no way of knowing if this is the case, but it probably is.
The Vision M Next design study that BMW unveiled this summer gave us a potential sneak peek at the upcoming sports car. The crazy style appeared to be a beautiful step up from the already futuristic i8 and was wedgy, edgy, and cutting-edge. The vehicle had a turbocharged inline-four that produced 600 horsepower and could travel 62 miles on electricity alone, making it a powerful plug-in hybrid. The technology used, such as facial recognition to open the car, was characteristic of a concept from the future.
BMW declined to comment further on the rumors, emphasizing that the Vision M Next was “not a concept car for a specific model but a design study that was displayed at numerous motor shows last year.”
We’ll probably never find out what happened to the i8 replacement, though. We can find solace in the fact that there are a ton of other M models.
How recent is the BMW i8?
The 2021 i8 has a single powertrain that combines a 1.5-liter three-cylinder gas engine that has been turbocharged with an 11.6-kWh battery and two electric motors. The three engines work together to provide 369 horsepower, which can drive all four wheels.
Why did BMW discontinue the i8?
On Thursday, the final i8 to be produced rolled out of the Leipzig BMW facility. Actually, the PHEV’s manufacturing was scheduled to stop in the middle of April. However, because of the factory’s closure due to the coronavirus outbreak, manufacturing was delayed until June.
Since manufacturing on the i8 began six years ago, exactly 20,448 vehicles have been sent from the factory. According to a press release from BMW, the final vehicle was an i8 Roadster in “Portimao Blue” and it was sold to a buyer in Germany.
The i8 was the first plug-in hybrid vehicle in the whole BMW Group when it made its debut in 2014. The hybrid sports car was never successful outside of its specialized market due to its intricate carbon body and six-figure base price. The i8 “embodies the departure into electric mobility like no other car,” according to Hans-Peter Kemser, head of the BMW plant in Leipzig. The model served as the inspiration for the current variety of plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Currently, one shift of production for the Leipzig-based BMW i3 produces 116 units per day. Hans-Peter Kemser, the plant manager, claims that if demand for e-cars in Germany increases, production of the i3 might be expanded to two shifts and thus boosted to 250 units per day.
There won’t be a straight replacement for the i8. In the interim, there have been rumors that the 2019 Vision M Next concept car may be produced in large quantities. The BMW board of directors reportedly decided against the 441 kW sports car, also against the backdrop of the Corona crisis, primarily due to “costs and the volume,” according to media reports. However, the hybrid sports car (this time with a four-cylinder petrol engine instead of the three-cylinder in the i8) did not get beyond the planning stage.