BMW i8 production ends in April 2020

BMW has finally put curtains down on its plug-in hybrid sports car. The announcement had come way back in September 2019, though the actual date wasn’t revealed. There have been speculations by Autocar that it would happen any time by April 2020. And now, the automaker has confirmed that the production of the i8 will come to a halt by mid-April.

The BMW i8 has been one of the most successful electrified sports cars of all time. It was launched around six years back and has accounted for a very important milestone recently. In December 2019, the company rolled out the 20,000th unit of the car from its assembling factory in Germany. This includes the sale of both the coupe and roadster.

The figure of 20,000 sales number looks even more attractive when you consider the fact that these two body siblings of BMW i8 are the most expensive models in the automaker’s portfolio. The i8 Coupe has a price tag of $147,500 while the Roadster kicks off at $163,300. The M760i xDrive also has a similar price tag of $157,700, but with nine more cylinders (V12 setup) and a much bigger engine than the 1.5-liter for the i8.

The BMW i8 uses a combination of an AC Synchronous electric motor and a 1.5-liter twin-turbocharged engine. The electric motor makes a maximum power of 141 hp and a peak torque of 339 Nm. On the other hand, the combustion engine is formed to produce 227 hp of power and 319 Nm of peak torque. The electric motor uses an 11.6 kWh lithium-ion battery.

However, the i8 did not always pose with such power right from the start. The 2014 production version had a combined power production of 357 hp and 570 Nm of torque. The last major farewell for the car would be the Ultimate Sophisto that would be available in both the body types. It would be limited to 200 units only. It will come with a few cosmetic updates.

Also read: BMW iX3 all-electric SUV design revealed