What’s better than one BMW i8? Why two of course.
On this episode of EV Rider, Kevin Kumara, owner of JaxSpec, and Maiko Roberston take us for a ride in her 2016 i8 coupe and his 2019 i8 Roadster and discuss what they’re like to own and drive.
The BMW i8 was a low-volume, plug-in hybrid sports car made from 2014 through 2020, with a total production run of less than 21,000 coupes and Roadsters worldwide. The Roadster, which went on sale in 2018, is even rarer with fewer than 4,000 produced.
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The early cars featured a 7.1 kWh battery. That size was later increased to 11.6 kilowatt hours for models sold from 2018 through the final 2020 model year.
i8s featured all-wheel drive with a carbon fiber reinforced plastic passenger cell to keep the weight down.
What made them special outside of the supercar styling was their three cylinder turbocharged engine that worked in unison with an electric motor that when combined is good for 369-horsepower and 0-60 times in the low- to mid-fours, for the 2020 model, all while returning up to the equivalent of 69 EPA-rated miles per gallon when running in pure EV mode.
While their fuel economy is certainly noteworthy, it’s the styling and performance that prompted Kevin and Maiko to buy their i8s. For the rest of the story watch the video at the top of this post.
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