Eco Pro, Comfort and Sport

Appropriately for a car from the future, the i8 lit up accent lighting and various screens around the cockpit when I pushed the start button, but no burst of combustion broke the quiet. In Comfort mode by default, the LCD instrument panel tinted its speedometer and power gauge blue. BMW's usual rocker switch for drive modes, mounted on the console, only offered Comfort and Eco Pro modes, lacking the Sport and Sport Plus settings of other BMW models. A button labeled eDrive on the console promised to keep the i8 driving under electric power, if the battery would allow it, while the shifter had a pull-to-the-left Sport position.

With 9 miles of electric range remaining, I piloted the i8's attention-getting body into a typical city traffic slog. The car felt comfortable and light, easy to maneuver and putting me in a lower position versus traffic than even in my own Z3 Coupe. The i8 accelerated smoothly, obviously metering out the electric motor's 184 pound-feet of torque to prevent jerkiness. And where I was used to seeing other electric cars drop apparent range much more quickly than the distance I covered, the i8's range display appeared true to its word, matching mile for real mile.

Unlike most of its models, the i8 only has Comfort and Eco Pro modes on the console-mounted rocker switch.Josh Miller/CNET

Coming to one of San Francisco's notorious hills, I heard the i8's engine kick in, seamlessly intervening to keep strain off the battery. BMW uses the navigation system to look at the road ahead, adjusting the drivetrain power output in advance of ascents.

After depleting the battery, the car switched to hybrid mode. At least I assume it did, as the engine remained very quiet under normal acceleration. In fact, the i8 really felt no different between electric drive and hybrid modes. Switching from Comfort to Eco Pro detuned the throttle a little bit and reduced power to climate control, a big energy saver when outside temperatures aren't too extreme. The electric power steering felt loose and easy, making driving this extraordinary-looking car an easy and uninteresting experience.

In electric mode, the trip meter showed 99.9 mpg, but as I drove in hybrid mode that figure dropped like a very heavy rock from a very short building. Within an hour of driving I was down to the mid-20s, making me seriously question the value of the i8.