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Let's make this tally REALLY lopsided

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The i8 gets a big fat 0 mile EV range rating (engine must start right up, whether it needed to or not) compared to 240-270 miles for the Model S. Not really fair to BMW to compare their car, with the lowest possible spec, to the one with the highest range available.

GSP
 
The i8 gets a big fat 0 mile EV range rating (engine must start right up, whether it needed to or not) compared to 240-270 miles for the Model S. Not really fair to BMW to compare their car, with the lowest possible spec, to the one with the highest range available.

GSP

Are you sure about that? BMW i8 Model Overview - BMW North America
eDRIVE mode is purely electric, offering a max range of up to 15 miles and a max speed of 75 mph for a totally tailpipe emission-free ride.

It's not a lot, more than the prius plugin I believe. I've never tested this, but just what I have read.

But I agree, it's weird these 2 always seem to be in a comparison article. Just goes to show, there is nothing really like a MS (or i8). :)

 
The editing in this article is terrible:

The Tesla seats four adults comfortably, five acceptably, though rear outboard passengers will find the roof leaning in toward their heads more than in other, more upright luxury sedans. The finishes of its interior pretty much disguise that fact; like other cars at its price, it is trimmed with soft-touch materials, leather, brushed chrome, and other high-end materials. The Tesla's finishes, by contrast, are fine but perhaps slightly more stark.
 
Are you sure about that? BMW i8 Model Overview - BMW North America
eDRIVE mode is purely electric, offering a max range of up to 15 miles and a max speed of 75 mph for a totally tailpipe emission-free ride.

It's not a lot, more than the prius plugin I believe. I've never tested this, but just what I have read.

But I agree, it's weird these 2 always seem to be in a comparison article. Just goes to show, there is nothing really like a MS (or i8). :)


The first engine start on the EPA cycle for the i8 is at 0 miles. It then can go 15 miles on electric, but this is considered "mixed gas + electric" operation. After that it is gas only. So BMW provides zero "electric only" operation without engine emissions, and prevents exactly zero cold starts. Why did they bother to make a PHEV?

If my Volt started its engine at 0 miles into each trip I would be screaming bloody murder. If I had payed over $100k for a car with such pathetic engine control software, I would demand a fix or my money back.

GSP

PS. Checking the EPA website, the above is not correct, at least not any longer. The i8 gets 14 miles on electric only and a total of 15 miles on "electricity + gas". I don't think that was the case when the EPA ratings first came out for the i8. Perhaps BMW did a software update to address this.

Compare Side-by-Side
 
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Why exactly to I periodically see online journalists comparing these two cars? I don't even see them as competing against each other at all, beyond a sort-of similar price range.

Here's Consumer Reports' take on the topic. As Jake Fisher says near the beginning, "comparing these two cars is kind of stupid". Note that this is largely a first-look at the i8 with not a lot about the Model S (which they had already finished reviewing).

 
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Here's Consumer Reports' take on the topic. As Jake Fisher says near the beginning, "comparing these two cars is kind of stupid". Note that this is largely a first-look at the i8 with not a lot about the Model S (which they had already finished reviewing).
I hated that comparison video, I think it was just click bait, they only used the MS to draw viewers and then did a bait and switch. Video should have been called i8 review, not i8 vs MS as they didn't compare the two.
 
Agreed green1, I scratched my head when I watched it. Cheap of them, you'd think there's already plenty of info on the Model S out there but I've already consumed all of it a couple of times over and am looking for more :)

I do find it remarkable how similarly styled the cars are, but only the outside curves of course. I've found cars tend to all start looking like each other until someone makes a bold styling move. I'll credit this current trend of angular, muscular haunches to Ralph Gilles's 2006 Dodge Charger design (and to some degree the Chrysler 300), and it's probably nearing its end. I don't foresee jellybeans coming back any time soon (but you never know, some speculative concepts for the Model ≡ are quite bubbly to maximize space), so it's probably up to one creative designer to deliver the next design inspiration.