Wacky Swiss Designer Rinspeed Has Ruined The BMW i8

With its turbocharged 1.5-litre transversely-mounted engine, 131bhp electric motor, and carbon fibre tub, the BMW i8 gave us a glimpse into the future when it was released at the tail end of 2014. Only BMW could create such an innovative car which still retained what we love most about the ‘ultimate driving machine’; involvement and feel.

Unfortunately, the guys over at Rinspeed decided to develop the i8 even further in order to show the world what it reckons the future really holds for performance cars. After looking at the final result, dubbed Etos, we really wish they hadn’t. Here’s why.:

The exterior

By now we’re fairly used to Rinspeed producing some fairly ridiculous looking vehicles. So it’s a bit of a surprise that the Swiss tuner has been fairly restrained when modifying the exterior of the i8. However, being restrained doesn’t necessarily mean that it looks good. In fact, what they have managed to do is make every panel slightly worse by removing key pieces of innovative design.

For example, the hollow buttresses designed to improve airflow have been removed to create a landing pad for your very own personal drone (yes, really). And the beautifully sculpted front end now looks distinctly poverty spec. It’s also garnished its creation with paint that would look more at home on a 1960s gasser. To finish it off, the Borbet GTX wheels look completely at odds with the svelte lines of the i8. All in all, it looks like a bit of a disaster.

The interior

If you thought the exterior of the Etos was bad, wait until you step inside. The futuristic dashboard of the i8 has been ripped out and replaced with what can only be described as shelving. The reason for this is due to the fact that the Etos is fully autonomous. When autonomous mode is selected, the steering wheel, which looks like something out of the 1980s (think Lamborghini Athon), retracts and is folded away into the dashboard. This then allows the driver to read a book or send emails on the move. There’s also an integrated camera for video calls, just in case you can’t bare to be away from a loved one for more than five minutes.

Placed on top of the dashboard are twin curved 21.5 inch HD displays, which are paired with eight HD cameras. These cameras provide a 180-degree view of the front and rear of the vehicle, effectively eliminating blind sports. Quite innovative, but then again, all this seems a little pointless when you consider that the driver is most likely reading his favourite novel. In addition, the rear seats have been replaced with a luggage shelf which features a detachable umbrella holder - just to make the car that little bit less practical.

Is anything actually useful?

Rinspeed has always split opinion with its outrageous styling, but some of its ideas can actually be pretty forward thinking. For example, the Etos can connect to traffic management systems and other cars around it, which allows the vehicle to drive autonomously in towns and cities, unlike the Tesla P85D. And it contains some features that we would like to see on our own cars, like wireless smartphone charging and near field communication (NFC) which allows you to pay for your parking wirelessly.

So after looking at all of the features of the Etos, we think that while Rinspeed’s technology is pretty innovative, there are just so many features on this car that are utterly pointless. Oh, and it should probably leave the styling to someone else, too.