2017
Automatic
134.5 mpg
Tax: £170
Mileage: 38,220
Hybrid
2014
Tax: £0
Mileage: 50,311
Forget everything you know about what a top sportscar should be - and start again. This is, after all, exactly what BMW did with this i8, which sold between 2014 and 2020. It's a plug-in petrol/electric hybrid supercar that runs silently on its battery in the morning commute, yet transforms itself into something like a Porsche 911 when you're in the mood. It also looks sensational, feels special and will slash your running costs to the bone.
Is this i8 as quick, as responsive or as ultimately satisfying as, say, an equivalent Porsche 911 or Mercedes-AMG GT? No it isn't. But it got closer to that benchmark than we ever thought it would. Closer than a car ever should that's more than twice as frugal and so much cleaner in emissions that it costs a fraction of the usual rate to tax. Here, BMW created what its customers wanted and showed the rest of the industry just how far behind it was in delivering the future of the sportscar. Hybrid power may ultimately be the wrong direction for all our automotive futures, but like it or not, we've gone there, so let's have some fun on the way. The i8 brought us that - and much more besides. Nothing else we can think of in this segment from the 2014-2020 era is so striking, surprising and sensational as an i8 Coupe, yet this BMW is so ultimately sensible in what it sets out to offer. It was a landmark car: nothing more, nothing less. And an incredible achievement.
Borrow £6,000 with £1,000 deposit over 48 months with a representative APR of 18.1%, monthly payment would be £172.36, with a total cost of credit of £2,273.28 and a total amount payable of £9,273.28.
