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2016 BMW i8

The BMW i8 is comfortable in its own amazing skin. It needs to be. It looks like a buttressed spaceship trimmed with extraterrestrial blue and black. If the wheels were spat-covered, it’d be easy to convince people it’s actually levitating on the pride of Munich. Every person who catches a glimpse locks eyes on it, and you needn’t be clairvoyant to read pedestrians’ thoughts, which mostly boil down to, “What the . . . ?”

Bending in and under the dihedral doors is an event, every time. Before you fall into the car, you must first hoist yourself over the tall, wide side sills. Graceful entries and exits are not an option, and after a weekend of running routine errands, we found this raises questions about daily drivability. But then, like a hat worn to the Kentucky Derby, this car is about making statements. For some, announcing one’s arrival is a priority that overshadows any thought of inconvenience. And this plug-in hybrid makes a greener statement than any Audi R8, McLaren 570S, or Porsche 911. Tesla owners nod in approval and Prius owners . . . ah, who are we kidding? Prius owners don’t see other cars.

Aside from drawing all the stares, this car can see well, too. Or rather, its driver can because this is the first car in the U.S. equipped with laser headlights—yes, laser beams, but not quite literally, Dr. Evil. Lasers are used internally, but the pure-white light generated by laser-excited phosphorous is safe for oncoming motorists. BMW finally got federal (NHTSA and FDA) approval to offer these lights, a $6300 option for the high-beams that are 1000 times more intense than LEDs. These new lights are even more energy-efficient than LEDs, but they are only for use as a supplemental high-beam that activates above 43 mph; the regular low-beams and the high-beams below 43 mph are LEDs. Although the U.S.-approved laser high-beams are less blue and less powerful than those offered in Europe (where they’re also dynamic, dimming out an area when the car detects oncoming traffic), they’re still turn-night-into-day, we-have-a-prison-break bright. We see why they operate only at higher speeds.

Making America i8

This is the first time we’ve driven and tested a U.S.-spec i8. (The car BMW loaned us was a 2016 model, but nothing significant changes for 2017 except the addition of a Protonic Red Edition; it swaps the cool blue/black color scheme on our test car to an even more visible, Columbus, Ohio–friendly red/gray combo.) Our previous stories, including an instrumented test and a feature, have been based on drives in European cars. This was our first opportunity to meter the electricity going into the car so that we can report an observed fuel-economy figure, which we’ve only been able to estimate in the past. Including all the charges, we averaged 33 MPGe. While this may seem low for a three-cylinder hybrid, know that the EPA attaches 28- and 29-mpg numbers to the i8’s conventional city and highway ratings, which are achieved when the car is operating as a regular hybrid. Only when using the relatively small 7.1-kWh lithium-ion battery pack alone, what the EPA calls “charge-depleting” mode, will the i8 approach its EPA electricity-plus-gas combined rating of 76 MPGe, and even then only for short stints. The i8 averaged 38 MPGe on our 200-mile, 75-mph highway economy test, the first 16 miles of which were completed using only electric drive.

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The i8’s three sources of power—a mid-mounted 228-hp turbo inline-three and AC motor and a stronger 129-hp AC motor up front—are the same as in the European car, but this federalized i8 weighed 3484 pounds, about 100 more than either of the other previously tested cars. Thus, it wasn’t quite as quick, with launch control producing a zero-to-60-mph time of 4.0 seconds (compared with 3.6 and 3.8 for the European examples), and dusting off a quarter-mile in 12.5 seconds (down from 12.1 and 12.4). Regardless, the thing accelerates like a solid-fuel rocket when eBoost mode is engaged by pressing the accelerator pedal through the kickdown switch. It delivers the kind of sustained acceleration we’ve experienced in Porsche 911 Turbos.

Calm Star Cruiser

Driven without aggression, the i8 can feel appliancelike, which we mean with no disrespect—few cars that perform this well are so amenable to gentle cruising. The i8 is capable of meandering through traffic like an ordinary family sedan, at least to the extent that those gaping at it allow. There’s great visibility outward, considering how low the car is, so maneuvering around the gawkers is easy. The narrow Bridgestone Potenza S001 tires, 215/45R-20 in front and 245/40R-20 in back, don’t hum on the freeway the way the wide meats do on, say, a Chevy Corvette. The i8 generates 72 decibels of noise at 70 mph—not luxury-sedan quiet, but 4 decibels quieter than what we measured in the Corvette Grand Sport. Four decibels might seem like a small difference, but sound measurements reside on an exponential scale, and the BMW’s cruising sound is not only much quieter but of a more pleasant character.

As a plug-in hybrid, the i8’s front electric motor is strong enough to propel the car all by its lonesome. In the Normal driving mode, most movement begins with only the front motor operating. Occasionally, the three-cylinder engine felt slow to kick in and deliver the intersection-clearing thrust we were seeking. Silently creeping into lanes of cross-traffic can raise concerns with unprepared passengers. Moving the shifter over to Sport mode keeps the engine fired and makes gap-shooting feel less eventful.

There are four seats, but the rears are just laughable pads more suited to cushion a football-stadium bench than to transport guests in a $150,000 car, and the space is itself hospitable only for small children. The front seats, however, are extremely comfortable, firm and supportive in all the right spots to allow long days in the saddle, though they lack the bolstering to complement the 0.95 g the car can generate in corners. The buckets are mounted deep in a well, so there’s plenty of body structure to brace oneself against. A Corvette for half the cash will trot away from an i8 on a good road, but we suspect there is more to uncork in the i8’s carbon-fiber-and-aluminum chassis. We’re looking forward to a mid-term update or second-generation model with performance that (we hope) better matches the concept-car looks of the i8.

Aside from the laser headlights, our test car had but one option, called Giga World. No, it isn’t a Glenn Quagmire–inspired salute to Seth McFarlane, it’s just a full-leather interior and the aforementioned LED headlights (projector beams are standard kit). For $2000 it seems well worth the investment. The next step up, Tera World, costs $4500 and includes such frivolities as a leather engine cover, but once you’ve signed up to spend this much money it may look like small change for a few more bragging points.

As with many other BMWs of late, the steering feels light and the pizza-cutter front tires are quick to turn, but we’re gluttons for steering feel—we want a lot more. Chevrolet (Camaro), Cadillac (ATS, CTS), and Porsche (every one of them) have found life in electrically assisted power steering; there is no reason BMW can’t do it. Couple the light steering with brakes that made it a struggle to make smooth stops, particularly in slower city traffic, and it’s tough to rank the plug-in i8 against traditional sports cars—among alternatives, only the faster, costlier Acura NSX offers hybrid power, and it has a much smaller battery and no plug-in recharging option. Fortunately, the style statement the i8 makes is authoritative enough to argue that it really resides in a class of one.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: mid-engine, front- and mid-motor, 4-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe

PRICE AS TESTED: $151,795 (base price: $141,695)

ENGINE AND MID MOTOR: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 12-valve 1.5-liter inline-3 + permanent-magnet synchronous AC motor; combined output, 228 hp, 236 lb-ft; 7.1-kWh lithium-ion battery pack

FRONT MOTOR: permanent-magnet synchronous AC, 129 hp, 184 lb-ft

MAXIMUM SYSTEM OUTPUT: 357 hp, 420 lb-ft

TRANSMISSIONS: Front: 2-speed automatic; Mid: 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 110.2 in
Length: 184.9 in
Width: 76.5 in Height: 50.8 in
Passenger volume: 81 cu ft
Cargo volume: 5 cu ft
Curb weight: 3484 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 4.0 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 9.8 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 17.7 sec
Zero to 150 mph: 27.0 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 4.9 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 2.5 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 3.0 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 12.5 sec @ 113 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 156 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 163 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.95 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 28/29 mpg
EPA gasoline+electricity combined driving: 76 MPGe
C/D observed: 33 MPGe
C/D observed 75-mph highway driving: 38 MPGe
C/D observed highway range: 420 mi