The BMW i8 will stop being produced next April

The BMW i8, BMW’s flagship plug-in hybrid, will be removed from the production lines to make way for a new range of electric cars. This cancellation comes six years after its arrival

The German brand’s Leipzig plant will stop producing the Bavarian hybrid in mid-April. This cancellation follows the decision to invest in engineering activities for the development of a new range of fully electric models, among which is the BMW iX3, the BMW i4 and the upcoming BMW iNext SUV.

Everything points to the new electric sports car based on the BMW Vision M Next reaching the roads within the next five years. The BMW i8, which became the first model to join the electrified division of the Bavarian brand; BMW i, has managed to sell more than 20,000 units worldwide since 2014.

It is worth noting that the model arrived as a coupé but in 2018 underwent an update and became a roadster.

BMW i8, the twilight of Germany’s first hybrid

The BMW i8 was unveiled as a concept powered by a turbodiesel engine at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, although it reached the roads in 2014. The so-called high-performance flagship of the new BMW i sports division sat above the BMW i3.

Furthermore, over these six years the BMW i8 has become a steadfast standard-bearer for a growing range of plug-in hybrid models, “as well as the first carbon-fibre construction processes that have since been integrated into parts of other, more conventional BMW models, including the BMW 7 Series which features a carbon core structure”.

The Bavarian marque’s i8 is a 2+2 with a mid-mounted engine and has only been available with one drivetrain option throughout its production cycle: a turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine coupled to a low-output electric motor. Performance figures have remained largely unchanged, although the 2018 update increased output from 361 CV to 375 CV.

In an official statement, BMW has confirmed that the i8 will cease production after the end of a limited series of 200 units of the Ultimate Sophisto Edition. The exact production figures have yet to be published, although the German carmaker confirmed that 20,000 units had been reached by 2019. These figures place the sports car well ahead of some of its predecessors such as the BMW M1 from 1978 or the BMW Z8.

Internal sources at the Bavarian brand have confirmed that decisions were being taken about the future of the BMW i8, and that it could be reborn as an electric rival to the Tesla second-generation Roadster and the rumoured Audi R8 e-tron.

Little is known about the drivetrain or design of the next-generation model, but sources suggest it will be developed using a ‘road to street’ strategy aimed at providing a tangible link between BMW’s involvement in Formula E single-seater racing and its i division.

BMW dealers have already begun offering the i8 at significantly reduced prices ahead of the full cancellation of the model.