BMW will stop making its hyper-futuristic sports car, the i8. Here's how it became the best-selling car of its kind.

Tim Levin

Mar 18, 2020, 01:40 IST

BMW will stop making its hyper-futuristic sports car, the i8. Here's how it became the best-selling car of its kind.

After six years, BMW will end production of its i8 hybrid sports car in April.
The i8 arrived 2014, and BMW went on to sell more than 20,000 units. According to BMW, that makes the i8 the most popular sports car of its kind.
The i8 isn't your typical hybrid, sporting butterfly doors, 374 horsepower, 420 pound-feet of torque, and a 0-to-62-mph time of 4.4 seconds.
You can still buy an i8 today. The coupe version starts at $147,500, while the convertible variant will run you $163,300.
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When most people think of hybrids, they think of cars like the Toyota Prius - a practical, if dull, commuting option. But the BMW i8 helped prove that plug-in hybrids do have a place among the envied, even if they sip gas instead of gulp it.

And after six years, its reign as the sports car of the future will come to an end in April.

BMW formally memorialized the i8 last week, after reports of its death circulated for months. A company spokesperson confirmed the news in January when reports popped up then, so it's safe to say the decision isn't related to the coronavirus pandemic.

When the i8 production line does halt, it'll mark the end of the car that helped show many what good fuel economy and performance - things that were long incompatible - look like as a team. It wasn't the only hybrid sports car of the time, given the existence of the Porsche 918, Ferrari LaFerrari, and McLaren P1, but it was more attainable - pedestrian, almost, compared to the others.

BMW has thus sold more than 20,000 units since the i8 hit dealerships in 2014, compared to the seven-figure P1's production cap of 375 cars. That makes it the best-selling car of its kind, according to BMW.

Explore the history of the i8 - and what makes it special - below:

After confirming the news earlier this year, BMW formally announced on March 11 that it will stop building its i8 hybrid sports car in April.

BMW rolled out the battery-and-gas-powered coupe in 2014, and went on to sell more than 20,000 units.

According to BMW, the i8 ends production as the best-selling hybrid sports car ever — and its story is more than a decade in the making.

The i8 traces its origins back to the Vision Efficient Dynamics concept, which BMW unveiled at the Frankfurt auto show in 2009.

With the concept, BMW showcased its efforts to build cars that would both decrease fuel consumption and increase performance.

When BMW debuted the production version of the i8 in 2013, the car took on a slightly less radical style, but kept a lot of the design cues from the concept it was based on.

The production i8 sported butterfly doors …

… which are a nod to the gull-wing doors found on the BMW M1, the brand’s last mid-engine production car before the i8.

Source: Car and Driver

The i8 also had an almost entirely closed kidney grille, since there's no engine up front that needs air …

… and unique rear air channels between the roof and body to help with drag.

The i8 went on sale in the US in 2014 with a sticker price of $136,000.

Powering the rear wheels was a 1.5-liter, inline three-cylinder engine mounted behind the seats.

Three-cylinder engines are usually more befitting of compact commuter cars than six-figure sports cars, but this one was turbocharged, rated at 231 horsepower, and augmented by an electric motor.

The i8 debuted with a 131-horsepower electric motor driving the front wheels, which made the sports car all-wheel drive and bumped total horsepower to a healthy 362, according to BMW.

According to BMW, using its electric motor alone, the i8 could hit 75 mph and travel 23 miles.

The i8 also packed a whopping 420 pound-feet of torque, BMW says, with 184 pound-feet of that available instantly from the electric motor.

Upon its release, the i8 was praised for its performance, fuel economy, and its stunning, concept-car-like looks.

For the 2019 model year, BMW unveiled a convertible version of the sports car called the i8 Roadster.

The i8 Roadster came with a higher price tag and two seats instead of the hard-top's four.

It became the production version of the i8 Spyder concept BMW unveiled at the 2012 Beijing Auto Show.

The same year that the drop-top i8 hit dealerships, the i8 got a higher-capacity battery.

With the bigger battery, BMW rates the current i8 as cranking out a total of 374 horsepower.

The hard-top version makes the sprint to 62 mph in 4.4 seconds, while the convertible does the same in 4.6 seconds, according to BMW.

The i8 hits a top speed of 155 mph and has an all-electric range of roughly 33 to 34 miles, depending on the body style.

Today, the i8 Coupe retails for a base MSRP of $147,500, while the Roadster can be had for around $163,300.

BMW is celebrating the end of the i8's production run with a limited-run version called the Ultimate Sophisto Edition, of which only 200 cars will be built.

We're not sure yet if or when BMW will release a high-performance, electric successor to the i8, but there is a lot to look forward to from the Bavarian brand — it plans to sell 25 different electrified vehicles by 2023.

We're not sure yet if or when BMW will release a high-performance, electric successor to the i8, but there is a lot to look forward to from the Bavarian brand — it plans to sell 25 different electrified vehicles by 2023.

Source: BMW

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