BMW’s i8 looks like it belongs in 2024 — and then, with a princely Euro-dollar sum (or whatever the hell currency we’ll be using by then). That it gets to 60 in 4.2 seconds, sips fuel for 100 mpg, opens up to drivers and passengers with scissor doors and is made almost exclusively of lightweight materials also gives it the strange air of a hollywood time traveler. But no, this sleek, blue-mustachioed speedster lives right here in the present, having taken form from a concept originally released at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. And what better backdrop to take a drive than the California coastal roads? Slide it into e-mode, listen to a few oddly calming blips and beeps, zip to 75 in silence, then hear as its 1.5 liter turbocharged 3-cylinder adds a well-controlled bluster. For a moment, you’ll think you’ve arrived…in the future.
Don’t miss our full review on the BMW i8.