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BMW i8 plug-in hybrid: It's a supercar, Jim, but not as we know it

Vroom-vroom, sort of

Prediction power

Thankfully the roads were empty and Scotch plod nowhere to be seen. While there are a few faster cars than the BMW i8, there are none this fast and yet this undramatic. I’m putting this down to the 250Nm of torque that the electric motor throws at proceedings whenever asked and the high-pressure exhaust that spins the petrol engine’s turbo up in the blink of an eye (and the flash of a speed camera and the loss of a driver’s licence).

BMW i8 Plug-In Hybrid Supercar

Keeping a low profile: could be a challenge on London's speed bump strewn roads

What’s even more impressive is the way in which the performance has no impact on the comfort or handling. Even when pushing hard down a twisty Highland A-road, the BMW i8 was almost insultingly easy to drive, something I can see annoying the sort of driver who believes supercars should be inherently hard to manage.

It’s a quiet car too, even at very high speeds. Impressively, not even yawning chasm-like potholes upset proceedings. This is no doubt helped by BMW opting for wheels and tyres with a larger diameter (20 inch) but narrower profile than the norm for a car of this type – 195 at the front, 215 at the rear. The net result is the same contact patch but a more civilised ride.

BMW i8 Plug-In Hybrid Supercar

Regenerative braking goes unnoticed

In Comfort mode, the only recharging comes from the regenerative braking, which harvests energy from both the front and rear axles. Recuperation in the BMW i8 is significantly less than in the i3.

In fact, there’s no way for the driver to tell that energy harvesting is taking place other than by looking at the readout on the dash. BMW has rightly decided that overly aggressive recuperation would get in the way of outright driving enjoyment and that would be unacceptable in a car like the i8.

BMW i8 Plug-In Hybrid Supercar

Prediction machine: if it knows your satnav route, it'll make adjustments to suit

As you might expect the i8 is a damnably clever car. Assuming you are following a satnav route, the navigation and power management systems will start to predict your needs to maximise economy.

Let’s say your route takes you along the M60 and the satnav knows the roads is very busy. It will start to conserve battery charge, so come the inevitable stop-start driving over the Barton Bridge and past the Trafford Centre it can use the battery and electric motor rather than the petrol engine. At all times the i8 pulls away from standstill under battery power so getting away involves none of the usual supercar histrionics.

BMW i8 Plug-In Hybrid Supercar

Charge it from the mains at home, if needs must

Thanks to the 42-litre fuel tank, the i8 has a maximum touring range of 373 miles (600km) and subjected to the EU’s plug-in hybrid economy tests can eke out 134.5mpg (57.18km per litre). Of course that number depends on how much of your driving is done using electricity sucked from the mains, so it is an entirely movable feast.

What I can tell you is that in 250 miles (402km) of very hard driving and no recharging, I averaged 32.9mpg which for a supercar really isn’t at all bad. CO2 emissions are quoted as 49g/km, which makes this the most environmentally friendly car of its type you can buy.

BMW i8 Plug-In Hybrid Supercar

Also available in black

The Reg Verdict

The BMW i8 is sports car from a science fiction film made real. Visually stunning, as clever as cyborg fox, as easy to drive as a family hatchback and as fast as something sporting a Ferrari or McLaren badge. The i8 is a technical tour de force and an absolute joy to drive.

Some petrolheads will doubtless take issue with how easy the i8 is to pilot and look after, under the misguided belief that thoroughbred sports cars should be demanding mistresses that are absolute sods to park and often catch fire. For those us more used to living in the world of A380s, iPhones and Chromebooks, that argument is absurd. Has BMW rendered all other supercars obsolete with the i8? Pretty much. ®

BMW i8 Plug-In Hybrid Supercar

BMW i8 plug-in hybrid: It's a supercar, Jim, but not as we know it

Hybrid 2+2 seater sports car constructed from aluminuium and carbon fibre featuring a 231bhp 1.5-litre 3-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine and 131bhp (98kW) electric motor.
Price: £95,000 RRP

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