But it won’t be on sale anytime soon. BMW are expected to show a close-to-production concept of the i8 Spyder at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2016, four years after the first i8 Spyder Concept was shown at the Beijing Motor Show (car in photos).
We’re fans of the i8 Coupe (you can read our review of it here) and adore the way it looks. So thinking about an open-top version is already making me smile. Unfortunately it’s been more of a headache for BMW’s engineers.
While they’ve always wanted to do an open version of the i8 , they’ve faced difficulties in developing the car’s carbon fibre-reinforced plastic body to suit a convertible structure. Which would explain the long delay since the original Beijing concept car.
There’s no estimate on when we’ll see in BMW showrooms but expect it to be within 24 months, maybe sooner. It’ll be powered by the same 1.5-litre turbo petrol and electric motor hybrid system as seen in the i8 Coupe. That means 362bhp/266kW and 570NM of torque. The coupe’s 0-100 km/h time of 4.4 seconds is expected to be same for the Spyder.
As you can see from the pictures here of the Beijing show car, the Spyder forgoes the Coupe’s two rear seats. It’s unlikely the second concept car will have rear seats too, though a mid-engine four-seater would be an interesting idea.
BMW’s decision to unveil the i8 Spyder at CES rather than a ‘conventional’ motor show shows who the company want’s their i sub-brand is targeted at and how they want ‘i’ to be viewed as. What are your thoughts on the i8 Spyder? Would you like to see more sports cars adopting hybrid technology in the future?
