[SoCalGuy]

I'd be surprised if the production i8 ends up looking like the concept. As has generally been the case with concept cars, they rarely have any resemblance to their production descendants. Take the Volt concept and production car. Even the Model S design was dumbed down from concept to Beta.

Concept car:

Production car:

The production car looks like a much cheaper Chinese-knockoff version.

 

[SoCalGuy]

One thing to keep in mind is that when putting together a concept car, by hand, nearly anything is possible. They only need to make one copy, and doesn't necessarily need to function.

A car that will be churned out by the thousands on an automated assembly line needs to be "buildable" in such a fashion. Thus there are some practical limits to how it can be put together. Also, the manufacturers will use as many proven, pre-exisiting parts or modules that is already has in its inventory, in order to maximize return on investment. Not to mention the myriad regulations that cars today must adhere to. All of these factors are going to impact what the production version ultimately looks like.

So really I find it amusing when people are surprised and all bent out of shape that the production version of a car doesn't look exactly like the one-off concept version.

True... but the Fisker Karma is actually one of the pleasant surprises... the production vehicle exterior looks even better than the concept one!