The i3 and the i8 were BMW trying electricity in public

Before electric cars became the ordinary announcement, BMW built two that did not look like the rest of the range. The i3 was a short city car that ran on a battery. The i8 was a low sports car with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain, and it looked like a concept that had been allowed out.

Experiments, not the whole catalogue

They mattered because they were specific. The i3 asked a BMW buyer to drive something tall, narrow, and electric. The i8 asked them to see the company build a hybrid that was about the sports car, not about a family hatch. Both have since left the catalogue. The names are still the ones people use when they talk about BMW's first real public attempt at this kind of car.

We will not attach a range figure or a price. Those moved, and they are easy to fake from memory. The durable fact is the pair: a city battery car and a hybrid sports car, sold under a separate "i" name so nobody would mistake them for a 320d with a new badge.