“If BMW launched the i3 and i8 today, we’d greet them as engineering miracles”
ANDREW FRANKEL
Unless it is timed correctly, a good idea is not merely no better than no idea at all; because of time, effort and money that goes into making it happen, it’s actually quite a lot worse. I wonder if that’s how BMW now feels about its visionary i3 and i8, one a hatch, one a junior supercar, both now celebrating their 10th birthdays, both so unsuccessful they were not replaced? Both made extensive use of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic to make them light, both were wildly, laughably ahead of their time and the only problem with that is we’ve just not realised it yet.
Look at the i8: a gullwing supercar weighing less than the lightest 3 Series on sale today (yes, really), capable of hitting 60mph from rest in a fraction over 4sec yet capable of returning over 40mpg. Unlike, say, the far more expensive Honda NSX, you could plug it in and drive at up to 75mph on electricity alone. And it did all this thanks to its carbon chassis and great-sounding 1.5-litre, three-cylinder hybrid powertrain keeping the mass to just over 1500kg despite it also having small rear seats. It also looked dreamy.