RE: BMW i8: Review
Discussion
I love both the interior and exterior styling of the i8 car and certain aspects of the design with regards the hybrid technology and the carbon fibre used etc etc. But this car was supposed to be the holy grail of sports cars with beautiful styling, performance and economy. Ah, the economy.... 24mpg? What a difference compared to the manufacturer's claims of 135mpg. Thing is, you can get a performance Alpina 5 series diesel, which looks great, excellent performance, for far less money and nearly twice the fuel consumtion! And then there's the i3. Again great styling (IMHO that is), carbon fibre and whatnot but for all it's technical spec and people saying it's a game changer, I just can't see it. What about the Vauxhall Ampera (talking about fuel consumption and range here) or the original Honda Insight? It's range in pure electric form doesn't seem much better than the Nissan Leaf, Renault Zoe. Until battery technology changes, ranges will not improve drastically.
Lowtimer said:
And cheaper.
As someone pointed out on here a few days ago, three years ago the Leaf battery pack was being talked about as £19,000 to replace. Three years on, it's come down to $5,500, which is just over £3,200. And the current £3,200 replacement pack is technically a lot better than the original.
£19k was only in the sense of a stupid media report working that number out.As someone pointed out on here a few days ago, three years ago the Leaf battery pack was being talked about as £19,000 to replace. Three years on, it's come down to $5,500, which is just over £3,200. And the current £3,200 replacement pack is technically a lot better than the original.
24mpg doesnt matter.
If you go for a blast who cares?
If you commute a normal distance you wont use any fuel.
I simply fail to see how people continue to interepret these numbers from one a LONG single drive by a magazine exploring limits as the absolute figure for how good the car is in terms of efficiency. So what if its only a 1.5 4 pot.... its still got 230bhp! Same as a 2.5 litre Focus ST....
If you go for a blast who cares?
If you commute a normal distance you wont use any fuel.
I simply fail to see how people continue to interepret these numbers from one a LONG single drive by a magazine exploring limits as the absolute figure for how good the car is in terms of efficiency. So what if its only a 1.5 4 pot.... its still got 230bhp! Same as a 2.5 litre Focus ST....
I wonder how long it'll be before they change the NDEC cycle to give moderately sensible figures for plug-in hybrids.
I suppose the obvious thing to do would be to publish an all-electric range and an MPG figure from empty batteries. Not ideal, but much more useful than we have at the moment.
I suppose the obvious thing to do would be to publish an all-electric range and an MPG figure from empty batteries. Not ideal, but much more useful than we have at the moment.
I'm actually interested in Formula E now. Boy have my opinions changed on electric vehicles. I think soon we'll look at Formula 1 as being slow, expensive and just overly complicated. Within the next decade there will be well over 20,000 charging stations in the UK and range anxiety simply will not be a problem.
We're transitioning from a technology which has had 110 years of global investment to one that has only been looked at seriously by a lot of people in the past 15 years. This technology is bounding forward at a tremendous pace.
There will obviously be casualties along the way. Those who refuse to adapt to this new method of mass transportation will be left behind. And by left behind, I mean unceremoniously executed at night down a back alley behind some bins.
We're transitioning from a technology which has had 110 years of global investment to one that has only been looked at seriously by a lot of people in the past 15 years. This technology is bounding forward at a tremendous pace.
There will obviously be casualties along the way. Those who refuse to adapt to this new method of mass transportation will be left behind. And by left behind, I mean unceremoniously executed at night down a back alley behind some bins.
Edited by Hellbound on Thursday 10th July 14:43
I thought the fuel economy may raise a few eyebrows! The BMW PR team were a little surprised...
It would be really interesting to try one day to day and see what a real world MPG figure is like. When there are roads like the A832 (https://goo.gl/maps/S4m7Z) the driving is perhaps a little more enthusiastic than usual. And it wasn't all me, the car is shared with another journo don't forget!
Any more questions, MPG or otherwise, more than welcome!
Matt
It would be really interesting to try one day to day and see what a real world MPG figure is like. When there are roads like the A832 (https://goo.gl/maps/S4m7Z) the driving is perhaps a little more enthusiastic than usual. And it wasn't all me, the car is shared with another journo don't forget!
Any more questions, MPG or otherwise, more than welcome!
Matt
Great little car but I can only see one big problem
ONE....HUNDRED....THOUSAND.....POUNDS!
I'm sorry but surely spending just 5k on a Smart Roadster Brabus is a better choice because you still get good economy and a great driving feel without spending more than what most sports cars cost.
ONE....HUNDRED....THOUSAND.....POUNDS!
I'm sorry but surely spending just 5k on a Smart Roadster Brabus is a better choice because you still get good economy and a great driving feel without spending more than what most sports cars cost.
moribund said:
Hang on, is this the BMW halo effect again? Make a nice looking car with a BMW badge and claim amazing advances ... hopefully nobody notices that the Tesla S will do the same distance with the same mad acceleration, nice handling (and a similar lack of feel...) but use no petrol all?
The issue with the Tesla is the length of time required for recharging. In the i8, it would be possible to have this as your only car - due to the full electric power plant in the Tesla I doubt anyone would put up with the increase in time needed.I appreciate both of these cars but I 'love' neither...
It's not entirely clear to me what the i8 is for, so it's hard to say whether it succeeds or not. The tested fuel consumption is really rather unimpressive, but then how much of the thing's mileage will typically be done in electric-only mode? A fair chunk, I should think. My ten year old Elise will do 60 in about 5 and 100 in about 13 and does about 30mpg whether you thrash it or baby it, and I'm sure a modern interpretation with the same compromises and a lot of BMW's money and technology could do better, but then my car isn't a big, comfortable, well equipped car with GT capabilities.
I think the figures mostly illustrate how the standard EU drive cycle is becoming less and less fit for purpose. Whether this machine is so much more fuel efficient than purely IC alternatives will depend so much on how it is used that the comparative test figures are next to meaningless.
I think the figures mostly illustrate how the standard EU drive cycle is becoming less and less fit for purpose. Whether this machine is so much more fuel efficient than purely IC alternatives will depend so much on how it is used that the comparative test figures are next to meaningless.
Matt Bird said:
I thought the fuel economy may raise a few eyebrows! The BMW PR team were a little surprised...
It would be really interesting to try one day to day and see what a real world MPG figure is like. When there are roads like the A832 (https://goo.gl/maps/S4m7Z) the driving is perhaps a little more enthusiastic than usual. And it wasn't all me, the car is shared with another journo don't forget!
Thing is:It would be really interesting to try one day to day and see what a real world MPG figure is like. When there are roads like the A832 (https://goo.gl/maps/S4m7Z) the driving is perhaps a little more enthusiastic than usual. And it wasn't all me, the car is shared with another journo don't forget!
The i8 is certified and taxed at 135 mpg. You do 24.4 mpg in it + the usage of electricity which is is neither free nor generated from sustainable sources (but for a very small percentage).
The AM N430 attracts nearly £100,000 worth of CO2-based tax over here, based on 18 mpg or so. In the same conditions as above, you do 15 mpg in it.
Strip the 'innovation' aspect away and by the sounds of it you're left with a '4/5' driving experience which is commendable but not really good enough against a 911/F-Type/V8V et al. It's probably more expensive to build, too.
NEDC falsifying competition? Naahh...
It looks ok but a bit like others have mentioned; a background car in some sic if film. What I can't excuse is its point. Yes I understand mixing fun with hybrid technology whilst making something look nice but the fact if I can buy a second hand Porsche or anything similar but at that price I'm pretty sure I could run a nice Porsche for 3 years with servicing, fuel and insurance and still have a lot of money left and sell it for a decent amount. I am like many dubious about the battery prices in these. Last thing I heard was a Nissan Leaf battery set was circa £6000 plus so. In a car like this from BMW would £15,000 be a realistic figure?
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