BMW took a couple of prototypes of the X8 to the Nurburgring for some fine-tuning, but they did find themselves in a messy situation. According to spy photographers, one of the testers experienced some technical issues and broke down. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get close enough to snap a few pics of it, yet they did add that the prototypes could only lap the German racetrack two or three times before having to cool down.
The last thing BMW needs is to recall the
entire X8 population shortly after launch, so the rumored arrival of the big
SUV in the second half of the year could have been postponed to early 2022.
This seems even more plausible when looking at the latest spotted prototypes,
which look the same, (controversial front end included) as our previous
sighting, despite being separated by almost six months.
As per the ‘Hybrid Test Vehicle’ stickers,
this is an electrified version of the 2023 X8. It has a charging port on the
left front fender, meaning that it hides a plug-in hybrid powertrain. It’s been
reported that it might use the same set-up as the X5 xDrive45e, with 388 HP and 600 Nm of torque, under the X8 M45e designation.
A full-blown M variant remains a viable
possibility, considering that BMW has already secured the X8 M nameplate. If
they give it the go-ahead, then it should launch around one year after the
regular X8 models, presumably with up to 750 HP.
