We are truly in a new era of sports cars, the time of electric-powered and hybrid-electric supercars. There are quite a few offerings in the category with everything from La Ferrari and McLaren P1 to the new Porsche Taycan.
Of the cars in this segment, my favorite for drivability, livability and styling is the BMW i8.
The Pick of the Day is a 2014 BMW i8 gas-electric hybrid offered on ClassicCars.com by a dealer in in Costa Mesa, California, and finished in Crystal White paint with Dalbergia Brown leather seats.
I was fortunate to be among the very first group of U.S. journalists to test drive the i8 on a launch event in California several years ago. I was initially skeptical, but after driving the car for 4 days, I was amazed.
This is a great sports car, with dramatic supercar styling, that is easy to drive, comfortable and something rare in the segment: it is easily usable as a daily driver.
These cars were all but unobtainable when first released, most going to long-term BMW buyers who often were willing to pay more than sticker price to obtain the new halo car. Needless to say, this put me well out of the i8 market.
Times have changed and like many high-end vehicles, the i8 can now be purchased as a used car for less than half the cost of buying a new 2020 model.
I was reviewing my story of driving the i8, in which I wrote: “If you love the idea of driving a usable supercar and want to help the planet out at the same time, then your only choice is the i8. One drive and you will be convinced. This really is the next true revolutionary car.”
I stand by that statement. The i8 is still really in its own class, not as a supercar but more of a capable GT car in supercar clothes. It has all the stylistic drama of a supercar with few if any of the headaches associated with most of them.
You might question this as a collector car, but at some point, these cars should move into collector status as the first generation of BMW hybrid sports cars.
The total mileage on this i8 is less than 700, so it is in effect a new car.
One of the things that made me nervous about writing about the i8 is what battery-replacement costs might be. Keep in mind that the i8 has a 10-year 100,000 KM warranty on the batteries, so that should not be an issue for this car for a while. The battery replacement for the i8 costs around $8,000 dollars, but then it is again covered under warranty.
The asking price for the i8 is $79,900 or best offer, which seems like a great deal.
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.
I, for one, would like to know just what the Kelly Blue Book and the C P I Book say that this is worth. Even with ONLY 700 miles at $80K i cannot see this as being a ‘Good Buy’……anyone ……??
Does it come with a new extension cord
BMW was one of the early companies to try the electric powered vehicles but this one was a flop. I think they made the car look very appealing but the cars performance was very poorly executed the range was quickly used up if your foot was on the pedal and at the time of its release charging stations were a little harder to find . I purchase vehicles for a large automotive group and you can usually see one of these cars waiting to be sold and with low mileage and barley any charge left in the cell . It’s like owning a old cell phone that your constantly keeping plugged in somewhere. So if you really want one of these they are available cheap and low km,s at your local auctions but I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to drive it home .
I8 was my dream car until I seen the liquid metal BMW !!!!!
80.000 dollars for a 2014?. I can agree on a 2015, but a 2014, it’s a rip off and in top of that, it is just a roadster, not a convertible.