BMW i4: Breaking Prejudices and Setting a New Standard in Electric Cars

The electric i4 commands attention. Even in a row of cars parked on the street. “Dad, look at this beautiful BMW. Don’t you want to buy it?” a six-year-old boy asks his father as he walks by. “It’s beautiful, except it’s electric,” replies the father. This incident, which I was a silent witness during the testing, once again confirmed to me that the local population’s resistance to electromobility is very prejudiced and stubborn. However, if any car has a chance to break this dislike, it is the electric four from Munich.

The winner of the prestigious domestic Car of the Year 2022 competition beat all internal combustion engines last year. It is a purely electric version of the 4 Series Gran Coupé, which is also sold with standard internal combustion engines. In the electric version, the elegant fastback is almost indistinguishable from its petrol or diesel sibling.

The electric four is proud of the latest design of the Bavarians, i.e. the maximalist kidneys on the bow, which many true fans of the Munich automaker have still not taken kindly to. But the sporty four really suits and does not detract from the Bavarian DNA. The tested version with the prestigious Individual equipment has an inconspicuous Manhattan Green color and twenty-inch aerodynamic wheels. The sports “em” package offers, for example, a rear spoiler or sports brakes with red calipers.

With two screens

The BMW i4 took over from the iX model a modern multimedia system consisting of a twelve-inch digital cockpit and a fifteen-inch infotainment display. At the same time, both screens elegantly follow each other and are covered by one glass plate. For the Bavarian manufacturer, it has been a leap forward in recent years, BMW has long lagged behind the competition in the development of infotainment screens. The question is whether the new system also brought clarity. Icons are blessed on the infotainment screen and it takes quite a while for an inexperienced user to select the right one. However, the display is easily accessible and there is also the possibility to control everything from the center console using the circular controller. The driver can bypass the complicated menu in the infotainment very well thanks to the completely button control on the steering wheel. There is also a driving style selector on the circular controller, which was taken over from the combustion version of the four BMW.BMW i4 eDRIVE35 M SPORTAuthor: e15 Michael Tomeš

Comfort and ambience

The otherwise very good interior impresses with a heated steering wheel, so-called ambient lighting, the color of which can be changed, or a luxurious Harman/Kardon audio system. The sports seats are nice and comfortable, but only in the front. There is significantly less space on the rear seats, which is already indicated by the size of the doors – the rear ones are significantly smaller than the front ones. On the contrary, 470 liters of luggage space is more than decent. Connoisseurs will also be impressed by frameless doors and recessed door handles.BMW i4 eDRIVE35 M SPORTAuthor: e15 Michael Tomeš

Charging after 400 kilometers

Even with the weakest electric drive, the BMW i4 combines pleasantly fast dynamics with an acceptable but rather average range. Thanks to significant recuperation, i.e. regenerative braking, during which the electric motor changes kinetic energy into electrical energy, the vehicle can be controlled with essentially only one pedal. The power of recuperation can be adjusted in the infotainment settings. According to the manufacturer’s data, the electric four should be able to travel up to 483 kilometers on a single charge, but in reality it managed a maximum of around 400 kilometers during the test. For a longer range, you need to reach for the more expensive variant eDrive40 or M50. They have a “paper” range of up to 590 kilometers.

To a hundred in six seconds

The BMW i4 has only rear-wheel drive and one electric motor with an output of 210 kW (286 hp) and 400 Nm for driving the rear wheels, while it draws electrical energy from a high-voltage battery with a capacity of 70.2 kWh (usable capacity is 67 kWh). The battery cells are stored in the car’s floor and significantly reduce the car’s center of gravity, which is lower than that of purely combustion engines.

The approximately two-ton electric car will not slow down traffic even with the weakest drive in the range. It is very confident on the road, does not lean even in sharper corners and has more than sufficiently brisk acceleration. It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in six seconds and has a maximum speed of 190 km/h.

Even after the drastic discount of the Tesla Model 3, the electric Bavarian is a good buy by the standards of cars of this type. You can buy the cheapest version of the BMW i4 for 1,352,000 crowns. This is a little more than Musk’s “three” costs, but in terms of quality of materials and level of processing, the Bavarian model will also offer more.

BMW i4 eDrive35 M Sport

Motor: Synchronous electric motor with an electrically excited rotor, located at the rear

Power: 210 kW/286 hp

Acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h: 6 seconds

Fuel consumption (combined, kWh/100 km): 18.7-15.8

Range: up to 480 kilometers

Price: from 1,352,000 CZK

Pros: high-quality interior, driving characteristics, reasonable price, significant recuperation

Cons: complicated infotainment, less space in the back seats

2023-10-14 16:00:00
#Bavarian #message #Musk #e15 #test #BMW #slightly #expensive #Tesla #offers #E15.cz