BMW have revealed their concept of a full electric gran coupé, the i4. Since there will be no Geneva Motor Show due to concerns over COVID-19 (Coronavirus), the i4 did not get to be revealed on stage. Now, after leaks and an official reveal, we get to take a look at how BMW will compete with Tesla.
BMW i4 is a bold new EV
It gives an initial “wow” at first sight and then the regular BMW gran coupé features start sinking in. Then you see how different it is and the “wow” comes back. There’s a very constant blue trim on the outside to remind you of its electric motor. It has an aggressive face with an interesting kidney “grill.” It’s got a name also worth putting in inverted comma’s – an “intelligence panel” – and what it does instead of cooling is house different sensors.
The lights on both the front and back are very thin and in between them is an updated logo especially made for BMW’s EVs.
The first thing you see when entering the i4 is the long screen in front of the driver. It curves away to always be in arms reach and being seamless between the driver’s display and infotainment adds to the flow of the design. Everything about the car is run through a touch screen. There is a controller, but we have seen negative reactions to a lack of physical buttons. Maybe BMW are too looking to change the way car interiors work.
Teaming up with Hans Zimmer, a film composer to make this car something unique when using it. From opening the doors to switching driving modes, the sounds immerse you into the car.
The actual physical interior is very neat, super smooth and comfortable to touch. Everything has a gold trim to it, to which I was surprised expecting the blue from the outside to continue. This is complemented quite nicely with the blue mood lighting. With some electric cars, back seats are affected by the battery. That’s not the case for the i4, although it does leave the question; what space is going to get smaller?
There are performance figures but we expect them to get better
As with everything about this car, the performance figures are subject to change. It is also safe to assume that BMW is downplaying the performance before actual figures can be recorded. The powertrain is estimated to offer 390 kW and should get you a range of 600km. It’s predicted be able to get from 0 to 100 in about 4 seconds which doesn’t quite beat a Tesla Model S but is by no means slow.
BMW is set to start production of the i4 in 2021. So, there is still plenty of time for this concept to change and things to improve. If the final car is anything like this concept, then we are excited.