Charged up and in pole position

There was a time, in the not too distant past, when Hybrids referred to cars which were designed to look remarkably drab and were powered by the combination of an underpowered gasoline engine and a low-range battery powered electric motor. That definition won’t be relevant now…not anymore!

Hybrids and pure electrics have gone from ‘dowdy and impractical’ to ‘yes this is possible and it is sexy’. Mass adoption is still a long way off since the tech is still very expensive and oil prices haven’t really risen to a point where the internal combustion engine is at a risk of being replaced. Yet hybrids and all-electrics have pushed the boundaries of this tech making them attractive in a curious sort of way.

Unlike all-electrics, Hybrids manage to ease ‘range-anxiety’ amongst buyers who worry about getting stranded on the highway with a battery pack that has run out of juice. But, while incentives are still needed to prod buyers at the lower-end to adopt, there is a new kind of buyer that is choosing a whole new breed of electrics and hybrids at the top-end – ones that are nipping at the heels of super cars.

The BMW i8 fits snugly into that slot. With a design that has ‘visual drama’, an exhaust note that leaves behind an aural signature and performance that borders on the unbelievable, this is one Hybrid that many will want in their garage even if they want to go green. We had driven the European-spec last year. The right-hand drive India-spec was launched here a few weeks ago, and we test drove it here, in the sun-baked roads around the capital to see how it fares.

Much has already been written about the i8’s design, and yet it is difficult not to mention how it manages to bring together eccentric elements within its classic sports car profile. Apart from the most obvious reinterpretation of the kidney grille at the front, the i8’s scoops, air intakes and hi-tech LED headlamps combine to conjure up the image of a super car. It is only when you step to the right side and see the lid that conceals the power charging slot that you realise that this car is powered not just by petrol.

Scissor doors that open all the way up and door handles that have been concealed into recesses in the body panel add the kind of features that are needed for a car to belong in that league. There are more design elements that are not just meant to shock and surprise, but also enable the i8 to be more stable and quick. After arching down from the roof, the rear panel wraps around the haunches of the car making it look and behave like a rear spoiler, contributing to its aerodynamics and stability at high speeds. Looking at the LED tube design in the tail-lamp and the deeply cut panel at the rear, the i8 seems more like a concept car.

The i8 is the second model to roll out from BMW i – the new outfit created by the German brand to focus entirely on electrics and hybrids. So, there is a sense of the kind of eco-friendly materials that vehicles from this new brand will focus on. But, while the i3 was meant to behave like a city car and woo the hard core ‘Green’, the i8 has a more difficult task – to deliver super car performance while still fitting the Eco equation.

There is then the inevitable use of light-weighting materials like aluminium and carbon-fibre, which will still deliver the rigidity needed for dynamic, high-speed performance. BMW calls it the LifeDrive architecture where it uses a combination of a passenger cell made from carbon-fibre and a chassis and structure made from aluminium with the high-voltage battery. The result is a kerb weight of just 1,485 kilograms and a co-efficient of drag of just 0.26.

The i8 is a plug-in Hybrid that combines an electric motor mounted at the front with a three-cylinder, rear-mounted petrol engine. BMW TwinPower Turbo tech manages to push up power delivered by the 1.5-litre petrol engine to 231HP and a maximum torque of 320Nm. Power is fed to the rear wheels through a 6-speed auto transmission. The electric motor in the meanwhile is capable of delivering 131HP of power and 250Nm of torque being sent to the front wheels via an independent 2-speed auto gearbox. There is an intelligent drive system tech and energy management to decide which of the two power sources should be tapped for delivering efficient, but exceptional performance on the road. But, the numbers speak for themselves – a 0-100 kmph run in 4.4 seconds and a top speed of 250 kmph. Stepping on the throttle lightly prods the electric motor awake and the i8 glides quietly on with a bit of road noise creeping into the cabin. Stomp the pedal and the petrol engine wakes up with what initially sounds like a typical 3-cylinder thrum.

At high speeds and under hard acceleration the engine noise and the exhaust becomes the guttural note that one expects from a sports car.

But it is when you are cruising at 200kmph, stuck to the tarmac, that the i8 belies its light-weight construct and its Hybrid innards. The i8’s cabin is a familiar place with materials and layout bearing signature BMW elements which have been customised for the car.

There are a few differentiators and unique bits like the digital display that has replaced the traditional analog instruments.

Getting in and out of the i8 is a bit like it is with a few super cars with really low seats and scissor or gullwing doors. So, stepping out elegantly will be a task. It is also not a real 2+2, since the rear seats are too narrow. So, it is not with its practicality that the i8 makes a sales pitch. And though BMW claims that its optimum fuel efficiency is over 47 kmpl, real world numbers will be much lower.

Priced in the league of super cars at over ₹2 crore, the i8 is meant for a select group of buyers – ones that want to make a style, and a bit of green, statement.

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