A selection of BMW i8s have been recalled in the United States following a concern with the fuel tank.
According to a notification from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 223 of the 397 BMW i8s delivered in the U.S. so far are being recalled because of a bolt which is used to attack the vehicle’s fuel tank to the chassis may not have been correctly welded during the car’s construction. As a result, a fuel leak could occur and consequently cause the German sports car to catch fire.
Those cars with the defective bolt weld will receive brand new fuel tanks.
As a reminder, the BMW i8 is of course the second model from BMW’s new BMW i-Series. It is intended as a sports car and provides a forward-looking, revolutionary interpretation of BMW’s hallmark driving experience. It is a 2+2-seater with a design that BMW refer to as LifeDrive architecture. It gets a “life module” passenger cell made from carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP), as you would expect from any premium sports car. Total weight is just 1,490 kg, bearing in mind the plug-in hybrid architecture.
The production-spec i8 was of course revealed to the public last year at the Frankfurt Auto Show with production commencing in April. The drive system utilises a brand new three-cylinder petrol engine with BMW TwinPower Turbo technology. From 1.5 litres, the i8 manages an output of 231 hp, a maximum torque of 320 Nm. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed automatic gearbox. The petrol engine is supplemented by an electric motor with an output of 131 hp and maximum torque of 250 Nm. The power from this lithium-ion high-voltage battery is channelled through the front wheels via a two-stage automatic transmission.
