BMW i8 Preview

Here's the i3 video for reference


Was that David Peilow in there ?

Pity - I'm not about that day. The i3 vid looked to be at the public launch venue near London Bridge July 31st-ish, although a different day to the one I attended as the badges are different. Probably wouldn't be able to get in the thing, anyway.

Looks like him

I have an invite to this BMW i8 preview so I shall be Tweeting and blogging as per normal and no doubt... posting here

I am withdrawing from this event today as I cannot get there in the Leaf because of chargers not working on M4...

http://purplemud.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/bmw-i8-preview-cancelled-due-to.html

Well that sucks.

how crazy is that

Aaargh! Would be interesting if What Car mentioned in their article.

Direct...

I should have been there

My biggest concern about the car is not the price... it is with the doors. I don't know how practical they are. Could I still get in and out when some plonker has parked too close? At the moment it has to be a very narrow gap before I can't get in. Could I still get in with the same minimum gap? I doubt it from what I have seen.

Will it be a success? No idea! But I'd have one (if I had the dosh) if I can be convinced of the practicalities of those doors.

Practical? That's the whole point of a car like this not to be! Park it like a BMW driver across two spaces, then you don't have a problem

Speaking to our local dealer it sounds like they have already sold out the initial allocations.

Well, perhaps I am expecting too much practicality from a £100k car.

Having said that though... the Tesla Model X has similar doors doesn't it and who knows... the Model E might have too. That would be a deal-killer for me if the Model E had those doors so I think my comments about the doors are more about upward opening doors in general perhaps rather than just this car.

No CCS rapid charging only type 2, was a little surprised. Did I miss the size of the battery ?

I was at the launch event in park lane on Thursday. It's a great car, but I must admit that having seen it now, I am in two minds as to whether to proceed with the order. The main issues for me are that the boot space is tiny - not even big enough to fit the weekly sainsburys shop! Also the space for kids in the back is very compromised. I am not that tall, but if I had to leave space for my son's legs in the back, I wouldn't even be able to sit in the front passenger seat without bending my legs due to having to move my seat forward. With respect to the doors, whilst they may not be optimal in tight parking spaces, they are one of the great features of the i8 and I don't have an issue with them.

jontracey said:

Did I miss the size of the battery ?

Click to expand...

It's 7.1 kWh.

This is one of the best videos I've seen on the technical info about the i8 where Harry Metcalfe from EVO got an early chance to look at the car and he explains the layout pretty well in the workshop section (starting about 8 mins in).

fenlander said:

Speaking to our local dealer it sounds like they have already sold out the initial allocations.

Click to expand...

Car is formerly released in July and the current lead time is estimated to be end of this year/early next.