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The BMW i8 Roadster Teases It’s Taking Its Top Down

07.10.17 | By
The BMW i8 Roadster Teases It’s Taking Its Top Down

We’re still harboring lingering longings since our close-up rendezvous in Milan, Italy with BMW’s last “tease you now, please you later” concept vehicle. But where the Concept 8 Series intent was clearly intended to whet the palate, the Munich-based automotive’s latest teaser showcasing the lines of the BMW i8 Roadster reveals an electrifying peek of a car with more concrete plans.

Take what you already know about the electric hybrid BMW i8, surgically remove the top, and you’ve got the upcoming BMW i8 Roadster. BMW used their social media channels for the announcement, but details are scant and preliminary:

BMW i8 Roadster plug-in hybrid BMW eDrive: energy consumption (combined): 15,4 kWh/100 km. Fuel consumption (combined): 2,0 l/100 km, CO2 emissions (combined): 45 g/km. 

Fuel consumption is determined in accordance with the ECE driving cycle (93/116/EC), made up of approximately one-third urban traffic and two-thirds extra-urban driving (based on the distance covered).

The camouflaged profile seems to have kept the i8’s carbon fiber-reinforced plastic body shell profile mostly intact, with only minor cosmetic nips and tucks, likely required to turn a coupe into a convertible capable of accelerating at whiplash speeds. A pair of new alloy wheels and a pair of flying buttresses are noticeable additions to this refresh of BMW’s convertible variant slated for a 2018 release. Thankfully, the i8’s scissor-style, upward opening doors are staying.

The irony of an electric convertible sports car, no matter how fast, is that it won’t deliver the distinct audible engine growl of a combustion engine with the top down. But that’s a fair exchange rate for 0-to-60 mph in 4.2 seconds performance, all the while maintaining a modicum of environmental consciousness.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.