BMW i4 likely to be offered with rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive

The BMW i4 is one of the headlines in the automotive world this week. The four-door electric coupe is the second car from the BMW Group to use the fifth generation eDrive architecture. The other is the BMW iNEXT (iX). BMW has already released some details around the BMW i4.

This fifth-generation tech for the BMW i4 brings out new electric motors, power electronics, charging tech and high-voltage batteries. The electric motor, for example, will be able to deliver up to 530 HP according to BMW, as much as the 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 on M50i models today.

The Bavarians are also claiming their products are extremely efficient while the design and packaging of the batteries will allow the company to fit it in extremely tight spaces, due to its compact size and high energy density, storing 80 kWh in a total weight of 550 kilos.

When it debuts, the BMW i4 will have a maximum range of around 373 miles (600 km), on the WLTP cycle. The EPA rating should be lower.

BMW also offered some performance specs of the i4: the new 4-door coupe will do 62 mph from standstill in 4 seconds flat, and go up to a top speed of 200 km/h (124 mph).

What BMW has left out of their press release was the actual drivetrain in the car. For now, BMW i4 seems to include only a rear-wheel drive architecture, but we strongly believe that an AWD (all-wheel drive) setup will come as well.

Recently, some evidence showed up online pointing to two different drivetrain. We weren’t able to verify these with a second source, but here they are nonetheless.

First is the HA0001N0 which, allegedly, marks a rear-wheel drive setup. The second one is the XE2A02N0 with an all-wheel drive setup. It’s unclear what battery packs will be available, but it’s also likely that at least two options will be available.

It’s a similar approach as other automakers have put in play.

Now there is a remote possibility that a single motor could provide an AWD setup, but the engineering behind that drivetrain would be a bit more complicated.

BMW is being quiet on this topic, for now, but we expect to learn more by late May 2020.