The plug-in hybrid BMW i8 retired in 2020 with no direct successor, however the intent wasn’t all the time to depart its spot within the vary empty. The quite a few reviews churned out by the rumor mill have been at the least partially true: BMW virtually changed the i8 with a coupe impressed by the M1.
BMW design boss Domagoj Dukec printed renderings of a low-slung coupe known as I16 that is each acquainted and futuristic on his Instagram account. He defined that the mannequin was developed to interchange the i8, that it shared its composite construction with its supposed predecessor, and that it was created in lower than a 12 months. The cool factor about his submit is that this can be a undertaking that hasn’t been proven to the general public earlier than.
Whereas the doorways are harking back to those fitted to the i8, the I16 seems to be like a toned-down model of the Imaginative and prescient M idea unveiled in 2019 with a 600-horsepower plug-in hybrid powertrain. BMW has a protracted observe file of previewing its upcoming fashions with close-to-production ideas, so the I16 is the lacking a part of the puzzle right here. Dukec’s staff made quite a few modifications to the unique design examine, akin to a extra realistic-looking entrance finish with larger headlights and a new-look rear finish with horizontal iX-like lights, however the M1 affect stays.
The general proportions are near the M1’s, which was additionally powered by a mid-mounted engine, and styling cues such because the rear louvers and the dual BMW logos on the again finish additionally draw a parallel between the 2010s and the Seventies. The I16 would not enterprise as far into retro territory because the M1 Hommage, which made its debut on the 2008 Villa d’Este Concours d’Class and wasn’t a candidate for manufacturing.
Rumors detailing a modern-day, M1-inspired supercar have been floating round our little nook of the world for over a decade. In 2012, the reviews claimed it’s known as M8 — it wasn’t, although then nameplate later appeared on the range-topping model of the 8 Sequence. Issues went principally quiet till the Imaginative and prescient M arrived. In April 2020, the rumors sketched the define of a Imaginative and prescient M-inspired, i8-related coupe with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain able to delivering 600 horsepower and roughly 60 miles of electric-only vary, figures that eclipsed the i8’s.
Then, in Could 2020 we posted a follow-up report claiming the undertaking had been canned. “The board determined to not construct it. [The project] is mindless within the post-corona world,” an insider allegedly mentioned. On this case, the rumors have been spot on. “Whereas we pushed, the world modified in 2020. And so, work on the undertaking sadly needed to be stopped,” defined Dukec with out offering extra particular particulars.
