Plenty of time has passed since the high-class German automaker threw the i8 into the market to wage war on the hybrid sports cars of the time, such as the Ferrari LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder.
Back when it was released, the BMW i8 was a true game-changer. However, things didn’t stay the same way since it’s difficult to last longer than a year or two in the rapidly growing world of automobiles. And now, after seven years, plenty of buzz is going around the super-futuristic successor on the verge of launching.
Powerful enough to fiercely compete with Polestar and Acura NSX, the BMW i8 M is set to own the top end of the market. That said, let’s find out about everything revealed so far about the mystifying i8 M.
The BMW Vision M Next Concept
The i8 concept goes back to 2009 when all BMW was thinking about was how to reach better performance with less fuel consumption. And it wasn’t only a hollow dream; though it took five years, the BMW i8 found its way into the hearts of sports car enthusiasts soon after its release in June 2014.
Making about 370 HP, it could placidly jump from 0 to 6 MPH in a mere 4.4 seconds with the help of two separate electric motors fed by an 11.6-kWh working with a turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine. So much was going under the hood and 2014 couldn’t stand the pace.
A year after the i8 was available as a 2-door roadster, BMW introduced its Vision M Next concept car in 2019; it was also hybrid but looked way more bizarre and determined. BMW kept the avant-garde concept a hybrid and saved its all-electrifying potential for later. The power was boosted up, and the appearance was sort of a smart and delicate mixture of the i8 and the old German ride, the BMW M1.
A while after everyone was impressed with BMW’s no-far-off future, rumors started to spread out claiming that this concept remains as it is and won’t go any further. The good news? They remained rumors.
It Has To Be More Than 370 HP
As you already know, the BMW i8 M will carry a plug-in hybrid powertrain, and just like the previous i8, the same combination of two separate electric motors along with a gas engine will supply power.
Not much about the battery is revealed yet. Nothing remarkable is expected, but based on what’s been said around, it will support up to 62 miles if you go all-electric, which sounds promising enough comparing to the previous 18-miles-range battery pack.
One of the electric motors accompanies the mid-mounted 1.5-liter four-cylinder gas engine to send power to the rear wheels. But the all-wheel-drive system will also be available with the other electric motor driving the front wheels. Though there’s not much approved information about how much output we can get, more power is the least expected from BMW’s upcoming supercar.
For the 2019 concept car with the top speed rated at 186 MPH, BMW boasted of a 591-HP output, which takes you to 62 MPH in three seconds. Overall, the figures are far-out, and hopefully, they stay the same for the i8 M (and possibly step up a bit?).
How Would It Feel To Sit Inside: The Boost Pod Boosts The Level
The i8 M cabin is where BMW can get creative, making things unique. Though little is known about the inside, we might see some styling cues from the current i8. The BMW i8 M will be available as a coupe and a roadster, which means we shouldn’t expect much cargo space, but both front passengers will find the cabin quite comfortable.
The mysteries of the BMW i8 M don’t wind up there; we also have a blind spot when it comes to the tech features, but it won’t be like regular setups we see these days. For the past few years, car manufacturers have been pulling out all the stops to stuff their works with tons of high-tech items and various safety features, and since we’re about two years away from the release date, it’s not wise to try predicting what kind of technologies the i8 M might bring to us.
All BMW has shown so far is a HUD (head-up display) and some glass screens to demonstrate all the required information plus the entertainment stuff; the whole bundle is called the Boost Pod. Pretty fascinating.
It’s No Surprise It Will Cost A Fortune
As BMW has said, the BMW i8 M will go on sale in late 2023 as the 2024 model year. No one’s really aware of what might come out of the Vision M Next concept, but one thing sure is that it’ll cost a pretty penny. It’ll come in two coupe and roadster variants, and the price range will start at $160,000 approximately though it can go up and down.