The BMW is turning heads outside the realm of auto shows since it introduced the BMW i series in 2013. This is the first premium automobile conceived from scratch for 100% electric, zero-emission mobility. This year it was recoginsed with the World Car Design of the Year Award 2014 as well as the World Green Car Award 2014. In this feature, Benoit Jacob, head of BMW i design, describes the BMW i8 in particular—the first environmentally responsible sports car.


Q: What is your definition of good design?

Good design is a combination of function, appearance and emotion. Harmony between design and engineering is key – the design makes a promise that the technology has to keep.


Q: The BMW i8 is the first sports car in a new generation at BMW. What was your job as a designer?

How do we make the impossible possible? How do we bring the future to the streets? A sensational form and spectacular performance with extremely low fuel consumption. At the beginning it felt like mission impossible. Now the BMW i8 is the first sports car to demonstrate that passion and responsibility aren’t warring concepts.


Q: How did this challenge play out in the visual language of the BMW i series, and of the BMW i8 in particular?

A vehicle of the BMW i brand has to be designed differently than others, and not just because the vehicle’s body and concept are fundamentally different. For example, it was important to us to visually communicate a sense of lightness. That brought us to the idea of the “black belt”.


Q: Could you explain the V-shaped “black belt” that starts on the hood?

We were aiming for a design that translated the lightweight construction and powerful performance into a visual experience. The result is really a combination of aesthetics and aerodynamics, nature and physics.

Q: Engineering and design in perfect harmony…

That’s the idea. Design born of pure functionality. The proportions are what you expect from a sports car – very flat, very wide, yet still compact. And then we have special flourishes like the spectacular scissor doors – worthy of a show car. Yes, and the graceful curve of the flow-through tail lights. Our idea was to make aerodynamics look sexy. When a customer chooses a car like this, it’s because he or she wants to make a statement. And the BMW i8 is a statement about the future, sustainability, beauty and emotion.


Q: The i8 has already made a name as the most intelligent sports car in the world…

That’s right – for the BMW i team, this was an important aspect. Ingenuity is called for, especially when it comes to an exceptional sports car like the i8. The design concept is clever in itself: we’re able to offer a mid-engine layout with a 2+2 seating configuration. The design of the cockpit and the lines have a visually enlarging effect that allows us to create a broad sense of space in the interior.

Q: What was the biggest challenge you faced?

Weight. Even working with a lot of CFRP doesn’t take you all the way. Every component in the i8 is optimized down to the last detail. When, as the designer, I want ten more millimeters in the from because it’s important to the proportions, I suddenly have to shave off 240 grams somewhere else. Those were tough trade-offs.

Q: What was it like to drive the i8 for the first time?

Incredible! You spend four years working intensively on this car, and suddenly you get to experience it off the page. I admit I was skeptical about what sort of driving experience all the new technology would add up to. That is always the biggest concern when designing a car – is it going to deliver what it promises? And yes, the i8 does.

Q: Does the i8 represent the future of the automobile?

Although the brand BMW i profits from the BMW label, in effect it is a brand without a history. Everything is new. We don’t have to adhere to a specific dogma; there are no rules. The BMW i series is an opportunity to redefine freedom for the automobile.

It was very important for us to find the perfect combination of lightweight, aerodynamics and aesthetics – a symbiosis of cutting-edge technology and inspiring design. That’s what we had to achieve with the BMW i8. A forward-looking mindset and the search for the perfect aerodynamic shape, that is the basis for the i8’s revolutionary design. Our goal was clear: BMW i is a brand that delivers more – but reduced to the essentials. The BMW i8’s design proves how attractive efficiency can look.

Published with permission of BMW. BMW Group is a corporate member of Icsid as well as a World Design PartnerTM.

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About Benoit Jacob
Benoit Jacob has been Head of Design for BMW i, the new BMW sub-brand, since 2010. His approach to design has been a resolute pursuit of sustainability which goes far beyond customary automotive design work. It’s a challenge the unconventional Frenchman embraces, since he sees himself as a kind of “special design unit”. His path to this point was predestined; for Benoit Jacob there has never been anything else but cars, and he was aged just ten when he made up his mind to be a car designer. Today this laid-back creative talent is distinguished by an inexhaustible curiosity, a fascination with masterpieces of engineering, and a consuming passion for his work.

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