BMW i8 Roadster

This blogpost is written in collaboration with BMW.

We had the pleasure of enjoying the BMW i8 Roadster on a journey around the beautiful country of Norway! We had already traveled around Norway in the spring of 2019 and thought we had seen it all. But that was definitely not the case, and it was a completely other experience to see Norway with the roof of the I8 down!

5 Facts about the BMW i8 Roadster

It’s the first sports car with the consumption and emission values similar to a compact car.
The hybrid battery in the i8 is still the best-developed battery since 2014, and the cars battery not only charges when plugged in but also when you brake driving downhill.
The interior leather is tanned with olive leaf extract to use the most environmentally friendly materials as possible.
It can go from 0-100 km/h in 4.4 seconds.
The i8 battery only requires 3.5 hours of charging before it is fully charged.

The video from our road trip in the BMW i8 Roadster

BMW is one of the most sustainable car producers in the world!

If you are curious about why we have decided to choose BMW as our travel partner, you should read our blog post about why BMW is one of the most sustainable car production companies in the world. Follow this link, if you want to read it!

Cool features of the BMW i8 Roadster

Environmentally friendly materials

The source of this information is BMW.

Built around the concept of sustainability, components of the BMW i8 mainly come from recycled materials. Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced-Plastic (CFRP) constructed passenger cells are lined with leather exclusively from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The leather is processed with natural tanning agents such as olive leaf extracts.
Elements in the BMW i8 such as the roof liner, floor mats, floor covering, and the stimulating accent strips are produced with environmentally friendly processes and resources. Recycled bottles, reusable materials from scrap vehicles, and other recovered materials are also utilized to construct various interior parts of the i8.
Innovative foam plastic elements are used to construct the air conditioning ducts which further reduce vehicle weight. The look and feel of premium quality, however, is never compromised. And we agree to that!

Parking sensors

Quickly, we discovered that the parking sensors in the BMW i8 are not like as in other cars we had driven! Besides having the regular camera in the back of the car, that shows when you reverse, it was also possible to see the car from top-down! It looked almost like a drone was following our movements. Since you are sitting quite low in the BMW i8, it was very useful to see the front and back corners of the vehicle while parking or tanking.

Speedometer and navigation

The BMW i8 has the head-up display in the windshield.
This is one of the most incredible features in our opinion and a great asset when you are on a road trip, so you won’t have to change your focus from the road.

BMW i8 trunk space

Before we decided to go on the roadtrip in this car, we had some concerns regarding the trunk of the car. So we googled a bunch of reviews of the i8. A sentence we read several times in reviews about the storage room of the car was: “There is no trunk space in the BMW i8 Roadster!”.
However, after our journey with the car, we have to conclude, that the people who have been test-driving and writing reviews about the BMW i8 Roadster, clearly have never been on a road trip in the car!
We packed lightly due to all the fuss about the little storage and trunk space, but we had no issues getting all our bags, clothing and gear into the car for our two weeks road trip around Norway.

Our luggage:
1x weekend bag (hand luggage size)
2x computer bags
1x camera bag
2x tripod/monopods
2x puffer jackets
2x backpacks with road snacks, wallets etc.

The scissor doors

It’s difficult not to notice the BMW i8 when the doors open up. We have read a ton of articles and discussions online where people express their frustrations about these scissor doors. However, we traveled for 15 days straight in the BMW i8 and we had absolutely no problems getting in or out of this beautiful vehicle. And we parked in some very small parking garages.

BMW i8 laser logo

This is of course just to show off, but we have to admit we think it’s pretty awesome! Every time we opened up the doors at nighttime we were reminded of how much time, effort and creativity that has been put into creating the design of this incredible vehicle.