BMW i4
BMW is rebooting its all-electric i brand with a new saloon to rival Tesla’s upcoming Model 3 On sale 2021 Price from £55,000 (est)
Electric saloon will rival the Tesla Model 3
BACK IN 2013, BMW began a bold experiment. Called BMW i, it was intended to act as a tech-heavy sub-brand to showcase the best that electric car technology could offer.think Mercedes-amg or Ford Performance with more electricity. But following the initial launch of the i3 hatchback and the i8 sports car, there hasn’t been an all-new i model to shout about.that’s about to change, however, with the launch of the i4.
The all-electric, coupé-styled saloon will count Tesla’s Model 3 among its key rivals and will sit on underpinnings derived from today’s 4 Series Coupé. Its styling will be heavily in uenced by the BMW i Vision Dynamics concept car revealed at last year’s Frankfurt motor show.
That car had a claimed range of 372 miles – usefully more than most of today’s electric cars.the improvement was attributed to advances in battery technology that allowed energy to be stored more densely and ef ciently than is currently possible.
For the production i4, BMW is hoping to increase the range to 435 miles – giving it the longest range of any electric car. Of cials have also promised to “rede ne what is possible” in terms of 0-62mph sprint times.the Vision Dynamics promised a 0-62mph time of less than four seconds; the Tesla Model S P100D can do the same in just 2.7sec.
Two con gurations of electric motor are being considered for the i4.the rst features a single electric motor sending power to the car’s rear wheels, while the second option is to use two electric motors – one on each axle – to give the i4 four-wheel drive.the latter would allow drivers to choose between two and four-wheel drive, depending on which driving mode they select. Regardless of which option is chosen, the i4 will come with a power output of around 350bhp.
BMW is also hoping to make the i4 signi cantly lighter than its competition, so that it feels more agile on the road.
The car will come with advanced driver assistance systems and should at the very least be able to control its own speed and steering on the motorway – although human input will still be required. It will have a traditional steering wheel, because bosses have made it clear that even when its cars can drive themselves, BMWS will still offer manual controls to some degree.