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Hanging hybrid supercar, primarily based on Imaginative and prescient M Subsequent, was closely impressed by the legendary M1
BMW designed a radical mid-engined hybrid supercar to succeed the i8 – however by no means put it into manufacturing.
Saved secret for 4 years however now revealed by BMW head designer Domagoj Dukec on social media, the i16 was a placing electrified supercar that might have been the M efficiency division’s second bespoke mannequin after the M1 supercar.
Because it was, says Dukec, “the world modified in 2020” on the onset of the Covid pandemic, and “work on the challenge sadly needed to be stopped”.
BMW M has since revealed the XM hybrid SUV as its second bespoke product – a dramatically completely different proposition to the supercar revealed right here.
It’s a trustworthy evolution of the Imaginative and prescient M Subsequent idea BMW revealed in 2019, albeit with some refined revisions aimed toward making it road-legal.
Dukec describes the automobile as having “all of the fashion of a future traditional”, and notes the affect of the 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 doubt in a bid to chop improvement prices and thus bolster its viability as a manufacturing automobile however it’s not clear whether or not it might have used the identical plug-hybrid powertrain.
The i8, BMW’s first PHEV, paired a 1.5-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine with an electrical motor on the entrance axle for a complete output of 356bhp and a 0-62mph time of 4.3 seconds – making it a pure rival to the Porsche 911.
A battery within the transmission tunnel gave an electrical vary of greater than 30 miles in later automobiles.
It 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 Imaginative and prescient M Subsequent hinted at what an i8 successor may appear like, however plans to supply it had been shelved over issues about excessive R&D prices and low gross sales potential.
Nonetheless, M boss Frank van Meel hinted to Autocar in 2022 that the door was not completely shut to the prospect of a brand new hybrid supercar: “Its all the time one thing we are able to have a look at. As automobile guys, we’re all the time dreaming of creating such automobiles. It doesnt imply well make them, however we maintain exploring these concepts.
He mentioned the idea’s cancellation didn’t imply BMW was “not pondering of a super-sports automobile,” tellingly including that he was “all the time making an attempt to determine how it might work”.
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