It’ll be quite the thing.
BMW boss Harald Kruger has confirmed that the German luxury marque will put the i4, a four-door electric coupe, into production in 2021. Additionally, Kruger has gone on to say that the new car will offer new levels of driver engagement, connectivity technology, and “redefine” the performance benchmarks of today, or so he claims.
“The leading factors that will set [i4] apart are fantastic design, which is very different to anything else on the road and the fact that it is lighter and therefore more dynamic than anything we see on the market today, thanks to the materials we use. Couple that with the connectivity technology we are constantly developing and we are confident it will lead the market.” — Harald Kruger, CEO, BMW AG
The i4 will, naturally, sit above the i3 hatchback in the model hierarchy and will push the ‘i’ sub-brand further than it has been before. The i3 and i8 models that we’re familiar with are niche at best, but the i4 should prove to be more of a popular option among buyers given its more mainstream position as an electric family car.
It’s said that the new i4 will pack a range of up to 700km on a single-charge, and will “redefine what is possible today for 0-100km/h times,” assuaging any concerns that an all-electric BMW saloon will lose out on any inherent BMW-ness. The i4 represents a very important step in BMW’s history as it moves more readily and steadily into new mobility, as it achieves its target of 25 plug-in hybrids and 12 pure-EVs by 2025.
UK automotive publication Autocar posits that the i4 will be built off of the basic architecture of the 4-Series GranTurismo, which should give it enviable levels of dynamism and agility. In the pursuit of driving pleasure, the i4 will eschew the more fashionable twin-engine all-wheel drive setup and instead achieve 4-paw grip by having an electric motor sit up front and drive the rear wheels through a driveshaft (how old-school).
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