BMW’s i8 Roadster Matches Your Mood at the Flick of a Switch

Put the spec panels away. On paper, you cannot compare the BMW i8 roadster plug-in hybrid with any other sporting automobile. By numbers alone, it can’t keep up. It’s not the fastest, the most economical, the longest of range, or, at a starting price of $164,295, anywhere close to being the most affordable. But never mind those pesky numbers. Because what the i8 roadster offers is a driving experience unlike almost anything else on the road, a sublime mixture of luxury, performance, and 21st-century green tech—all wrapped in a package that swivels heads and shocks the senses like a Blue Angels jet making a sneak pass.

The big news for 2019 is a slight increase in total powertrain output—to 369 horsepower—and the availability of that can’t-miss power-folding soft top. The fabric roof whirs away into the void where the coupe version offers two jump seats, but in practice the i8 has always been a two-seater. Still, the convertible version dispenses with what little practicality the coupe offers; there’s a very small cargo bin behind the mid-mounted engine, but now the luggage space afforded by the “rear seats” is gone. Frankly, I doubt anyone interested in a car like this will care. The pleasures of driving in the open air far outweigh the loss of a little storage room.