BMW designed a radical mid-engined hybrid supercar to succeed the i8 – however by no means put it into manufacturing.
Kept secret for 4 years however now revealed by BMW head designer Domagoj Dukec on social media, the placing i16 may have been the M efficiency division’s second bespoke mannequin after the 1978 M1 supercar.
As it was, mentioned Dukec, “the world changed in 2020” on the onset of the Covid pandemic and “work on the project unfortunately had to be stopped”.
M division has since launched the XM super-SUV as its second bespoke product – a dramatically totally different proposition to the supercar revealed right here.
It’s a trustworthy evolution of the Vision M Next idea that BMW revealed in 2019, albeit with some delicate revisions aimed toward making it road-legal.
Dukec described the i16 as having “all the style of a future classic” and famous the affect of the Giorgetto Guigiaro-designed M1 in its angular, cab-forward silhouette, vented rear arches and louvred engine lid.
The i16 was conceived to make use of the i8’s composite construction, little question in a bid to chop growth prices and thus bolster its viability as a manufacturing automobile, however it is not clear whether or not it could have used the identical plug-hybrid powertrain.
The i8 was BMW’s first PHEV, pairing a 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine with an electrical motor on the entrance axle for a complete output of 356bhp and a 0-62mph time of 4.3sec – making it a pure rival to the Porsche 911.
A battery within the transmission tunnel gave an electric-only vary of greater than 30 miles in later automobiles.
The i8 was produced from 2014 to 2020, being discontinued to make method for a brand new line of bespoke electrical BMW fashions together with the iX3, i4 and iX.
The Vision M Next hinted at what an i8 successor may appear to be, however plans to provide it had been shelved over considerations about excessive R&D prices and low gross sales potential.
However, M boss Frank van Meel hinted to Autocar in 2022 that the door wasn’t completely shut to the prospect of a brand new hybrid supercar, saying: “It’s at all times one thing we are able to take a look at. As automobile guys, we’re at all times dreaming of constructing such automobiles. It doesn’t imply we’ll make them, however we hold exploring these concepts.”
He mentioned the cancellation of the i16 did not imply BMW was “not thinking of a super-sports car,” tellingly including that he was “always trying to figure out how it would work”.