BMW’s latest i4 concept car boasts 523 bhp with 600 km range. The production version will come in 2021.
BMW has revealed its latest concept car, the all-electric BMW Concept i4. Slated for serial production next year, the Concept i4 is a glimpse of things to come. Despite, BMW’s polarising future design, the Concept’s all-electric drivetrain would make it more appealing.
With a range of 600km and 523 bhp from a specially developed electric motor, the Concept i4 is able to sprint from nought to centennial kilometres per hour in 4 seconds with a maximum speed of 200 km/h.
The fifth-generation BMW eDrive introduces a newly designed high-voltage battery with the very latest battery cell technology. The version of the battery developed for the Concept i4 boasts an extremely slim construction and optimised energy density. The battery pack weighs roughly 550 kilograms, has an energy content of around 80 kWh, good for 600 km in the WLTP cycle.
Without having any form of internal combustion in the Concept i4, BMW’s new double kidney grille serves as a window for the Concept i4’s many onboard forward-facing sensors. Lighting wise, the “intelligence panel” is flanked with freestanding LED panels.
Presented simultaneously, the BMW Concept i4 is the host of the brand’s new look for the first time. The new logo features a two-dimensional and transparent design which allow seamless integration to the car’s exterior colour, in this case, the Frozen Light Copper hue.
Inside, the few who sat in the Concept i4 will get to experience the slim and borderless BMW Curved Display, and feel the new materials such as microfiber and leather tanned with olive leaves for the seats.
The traditional gear lever made way to a central control panel and the iDrive controller and the memory seat memory buttons are made in crystal glass. As well as high-quality and sustainable seals on the interior.
Despite not having a traditional internal combustion engine onboard, the all-electric Concept i4 has its own unique and distinctive sound. First introduced with the BMW Vision M Next concept car, BMW IconicSounds Electric is developed by notable composer Hans Zimmer together with BMW’s own sound designer Renzo Vitale, which the sound of the BMW Concept i4 combines BMW’s past and future.
BMW describes the sound as manifold, surprising and it provides a sense of lightness and transparency. The sound of the BMW Concept i4 range from the driving sounds in “Core” mode to the more intense and pronounced sounds of “Sport” mode. Also included are the sounds of the door opening and the starting scenario.
BMW says that the series production of the new BMW i4 will begin in 2021 at the BMW Group’s main plant in Munich. This means that, in the future, combustion-engined vehicles, plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles will be manufactured on the same assembly line in Munich.
However, preparing the Munich plant for the i4’s mass production will be a short-term challenge for BMW in the coming months. This is because the BMW i4 is completely different than the company’s current models and the need to accommodate the high-voltage battery. While 90 per cent of the current production equipment can be adapted for the i4.
In addition, the remaining ten per cent – especially the machinery involved in building the rear structure – will need to be newly built, which the company is investing a total of around 200 million euros in Plant Munich to bring series production of the BMW i4 to fruition.
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