The all-electric BMW i4 may be based around the combustion-powered 4-Series Gran Coupe but it has a lot of promise and soon, we will be spending a week with one.
Two variants of the i4 have been introduced in the Australian market. The model we’re driving is the entry-level eDrive40 complete with the M Sport package and while it doesn’t offer the kind of M3-rivalling speeds of the i40 M50, it should offer plenty of performance.
Driving the i4 eDrive40 is a single electric motor powering the rear wheels and pumping out 250 kW (335 hp) and 317 lb-ft (470 Nm) of torque. That’s a healthy amount of power given the base model isn’t all-wheel drive like the flagship Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 which both have two electric motors and are capped at 225 kW (302 hp) and 605 Nm (446 lb-ft).
BMW says the eDrive40 is good for 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.7 seconds and thanks to its large 84 kWh battery pack, has a range of 520 km (323 miles) over the combined cycle under Australian testing parameters.
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Plenty of other things make the entry-level BMW i4 seem quite promising. For example, it is capable of 200 kW charging and in Australia, comes with a 5-year Chargefox membership offering complimentary unlimited use of Fast and Ultra-Rapid public charging stations. Making an impression on the outside are 19-inch M light-alloy wheels, the M High-gloss Shadow Line kit, and the M Aerodynamics package.
The interior of the i4 is quite similar to the 4-Series Gran Coupe although it does have some unique features, the most notable of which is the curved display that includes a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 14.0-inch infotainment display, and which made its appearance this week in the facelifted 3-Series and the model year update of the M3 as well.
As mentioned, we’ll be spending a week with the i4 eDrive40 so will have plenty of time to test it out in a host of different conditions. If there’s anything you’d like to know about the EV, let us know in the comments.
