The BMW i8 is a car to admire – if more for the strength of its innovation and engineering and futuristic approach to everything than its out-and-out performance or comparisons to other sports car in its price range. Many of them far more conventional in their thinking and execution, but still excellent.
But for all its technical supremacy, it still relies on fossil fuel and internal combustion to generate motion. Yes, its electric motor and lithium-ion batteries can eek out the most from every drop of petrol, and its clever three-cylinder 1.5-litre engine is intelligently turbocharged to the nines, but that part of the i8’s equation by definitely the most antiquated.
According to a report by Autocar UK, the upcoming i8 will eschew a conventional engine altogether and rely on purely electric drive. But it won’t be filled to the brim with batteries like the Tesla Roadster was – the only other mass production all-electric sports car that comes to mind.
Instead, BMW has loftier dreams. The report says that BMW’s next i8 will use stored hydrogen to generate electricity, technically making it a fuel cell sports car. It will be based off the Hydrogen Fuel Cell prototype that the automaker showed off last year, but we’re guessing it will produce a far higher output than that car’s quoted 200kW (around 66kW short of the current i8’s numbers).
While there are numerous advantages to hydrogen fuel cells and the promises it holds, more pressing an issue would be a way for BMW to convince customers to accept the wider aspects of ownership. As of 2016, hydrogen fuelling stations are either quite scarce or not to be found at all.
Perhaps BMW’s big idea would be to only rely on the hydrogen fuel cell to generate power in a secondary capacity while the bulk of the i8’s power will come from the plugs just as it would be for a conventional battery-powered EV.
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