Tech Fun

These Insane and Creep (which allows the car to creep forward) modes are just a few of the quirky features available from the Tesla’s massive centre-mounted screen, which eclipses just about any other touchscreen in the business for size and functionality – it’s the only one that technically allows drivers to surf the internet from the driver’s seat, with no restrictions on entering GPS coordinates or addresses.

The BMW, on the other hand, has its own basket of tech-lover tricks inside, on top of the unique CFRP body structure and innovative powertrain, including a detailed head-up display and a BMW i smartphone app with the ability to map out navigation routes remotely then send to the car before hopping in, as well as the option to check on your i8’s charge, fuel status and a driving smoothness scorecard.

There are occasional foibles, too. For BMW, the most notable is the complete lack of AM radio, which would be a deal-breaker in my book. Apparently, the battery and the CFRP body don’t play together nicely, said a BMW rep, even though most stations can now be streamed through your phone to catch all the sports, news and local weather that are still on AM signals. But that seems like an overly complicated and data-heavy solution to a normally non-existent issue.

Fuel consumption

Though fuel economy has traditionally been way down on the list of priorities of exotic two-doors and super sports sedans, the fact that both of these performance vehicles get such spectacular fuel efficiency is one of their prime advancements. Even to folks with 150 large to spend on a car, each is a powerful statement that you don’t have to gulp through fossil fuels to appeal to performance enthusiasts. Green cars are not always about saving green, especially at this lofty end of the plug-in market.

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So at the end of my four cold and often snowy days with the BMW i8, I averaged 7.9 L/100 km. That’s far from its combined 3.1 L/100 km average cited by the EPA, but it’s still close to its gas-only EPA figure of 8.4 L/100 km – and also much lower than that of a Honda Fit I tested in similar conditions that clocked in at just over 10 L/100 km.

For the Tesla Model S P85D, its official average of 2.5L equivalent per 100 km likely won’t mean much to its owners, simply because the all-electric five-door frees them from having to go to the gas station at all, as would any BEV. We picked up and charged this P85D at the Supercharger station located at Tesla’s large retail and service location in Toronto, its first retail location in the city outside of its boutique in upscale Yorkdale mall. The list of Canadian Supercharger stations in Canada keeps growing, with about nine as of mid-January, all of them providing unlimited free power to any Tesla owner with an 85 kWh battery, or those owners of the 60 kWh model who opt for the upgraded charging gear.

Though its official EPA range of 407 km will certainly be slashed in the deep freeze of winter, it will still offer hundreds of kilometres of fully electric instant power. And from a fueling cost perspective, the P85D is estimated to use US$3,000 less than the average new car in the U.S. over five years and about 24,000 km, $6,500 less than the Audi RS 7, and a whopping $8,500 less than the BMW M6 Gran Coupé, even at current fuel prices 40 percent lower than in early 2014.

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