BMW’s fifth production electric car after the i3, iX3, iX, and MINI Cooper SE will be the long-awaited i4. A sports sedan derived from the 4 Series Gran Coupé. This model will be located in the competitive D segment, where it will have to face models such as the Polestar 2 or the Tesla Model 3. When will this model hit the market?
Initially, the Bavarian firm planned to present its latest creation in June this year; however, full-scale production will be delayed until November… and the first deliveries will not be made until April 2022. Therefore, it is still more than a year before we will see the BMW i4 rolling down our roads.
Meanwhile, the company continues to drop all kinds of teasers of the model. The most recent of them consists of a photograph in which we can see the model leaving the brand’s facilities heavily camouflaged. It should be noted that the photographed unit has the specific mirrors of the M3 and M4, so we are faced with a variant developed by the BMW sports division.
Initially, the i4 will be sold in two versions: i440, which with 340 hp (250 kW) will match the thermal M440i; and i4 M50 xDrive, which with 530 hp will surpass the M4 Competition in power, thus becoming the most performing model of the entire Series 3/Series 4 family. The first of them will have the rear-wheel-drive (one engine), and the second all-wheel drive (two engines).
In both cases, the battery will have 80 kWh of capacity, enough to reach a maximum autonomy of 358 miles. It is expected that at the load level, it will be between the maximum powers admitted by the iX3 (150 kW) and iX (200 kW) in direct current, while in the alternating current, it will be limited to 11 kW.
Aesthetically only small details (fairing grille, specific bumpers, aerodynamic wheels, recessed door handles) will differentiate it from the 4 Series Gran Coupé thermal. Although the price range in which the German sedan will move is still unknown, it will likely be around the rates exhibited by the Long Range variants of the Tesla Model 3.