Project i Marked The Beginning of the End for BMW — i3 & i8 History — Revelations w/ Jason Cammisa

BMW's Project i created two cars: the i3 and i8, neither of which met consumer or sales expectations. This video explores the reasons why BMW pivoted from the maker of the "Ultimate Driving Machine" to a "Mobility Provider" to create mega-city pods with mega compromises baked in. === This episode of Revelations is sponsored by https://gtechniq.com/ Visit https://JasonSentMe.com for a quote on Hagerty's Agreed-Value Insurance! === Key takeaways from this Revelations episode: 1. The i8's left exhaust tip is hooked up to a speaker, not the engine. The Eberspächer "ActiveSilence" speaker ameliorates the 3-cylinder's sound, which BMW called "Active Sound Design." 2. The i3's carbon construction made for a lighter vehicle, but one that didn't benefit the consumer. Its efficiency was no better (or couldn't even match) the heavier competition. And efficiency is king in EVs. 3. The i8's carbon-fiber construction didn't help it to be lighter than a (steel) Porsche 911 — in fact, it was heavier. 4. The i3's clamshell doors proved problematic in perpendicular parking spots. 5. The i3 was designed for Mega Cities, almost none of which could afford its very expensive price tag. 6. Project i, which created these cars, was a think-tank set up by BMW to provide sustainable mobility solutions for the future. Turns out not even the Project itself was sustainable. 7. The rear styling of both the i3 and i8 featured angry-owl taillights and a strange bumper treatment that looked like the car was pooping out another car. The i8, in particular, looked like it was excreting a Porsche 991-chassis 911. === The BMW i3 (born as the MCV, or Mega City Vehicle) was BMW's mid-2000s solution to sustainable city transportation. It featured numerous innovations, including REx (a two-cylinder gasoline Range Extender), carbon-fiber and aluminum construction, and a focus on recyclable materials. Unfortunately the compromises built in to its design resulted in poor handling and braking performance and a miserable driving experience (which hitherto were core BMW brand traits.) Many of the compromises failed to result in benefits — like efficiency. The BMW i8 was intended to be a concept car to bring attention to the i-brand, (envisioned to be similar to BMW's other sub-brands, like M or even Alpina) but was so warmly received that it went into production using an off-the-shelf internal combustion powertrain from the Mini Cooper, together with a separate electric motor up front. === This is the history of the BMW i3 and i8, how they came to be, why they came to be, and how they signified the beginning of the end of BMW's reign as the most enviable car company in the world. CEO Norbert Reithofer earned his role by cost-cutting, and the result was the lamented, cost-cut F30-chassis 3-series and a brand-wide abandonment of the drivers-car fundamentals of what made BMW so successful from the 1980s through the 2000s. === Contact us: Suggestions and feedback - [email protected] Press inquiries - [email protected] Partnership requests - [email protected]