It was March 3, 2020, when BMW introduced the Concept i4 and now it is moments away from unveiling the production model. The livestream will start March 16 at 1 PM CET (12 PM GMT / 8 AM EDT) when the German luxury brand will finally take the wraps off the road-going i4 ahead of a market launch scheduled for later this year.
Closely related to the next-generation 4 Series Gran Coupe, the fully electric i4 will largely retain the concept’s design and offer an impressive 523 horsepower from a pair of electric motors. That will give it enough electric oomph for a 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in approximately four seconds.
According to the peeps from Bavaria, the output delivered by the pair of electric motors will provide the i4 with a level of performance similar to a V8-powered BMW. That sounds mighty impressive when you factor in the i4 will be quite heavy as the battery pack alone will weigh about 550 kilograms (1,212 pounds).
Equipped with an 80-kWh battery pack, the 2022 BMW i4 will provide enough juice for a range of approximately 373 miles (600 kilometers) according to the WLTP cycle. Charging the pack will be done at up to 150 kW and 35 minutes of charge will be enough to replenish the battery to 80%. BMW has promised 62 miles (100 km/h) of range for every six minutes of charge.
It is believed BMW will initially sell the i4 in three different flavors: eDrive35, eDrive40, and the range-topping M50. Only the latter is reportedly going to have all-wheel drive while the other two will stick to a RWD setup. Production in Munich could start as early as August or September based on the latest intel, which would be much sooner than the original plan to kick off assembly in November.
The BMW i4 will have to face some stiff competition coming not just from Tesla, but also from the Porsche Taycan, Audi E-Tron GT, and the forthcoming Mercedes EQE.
Source: BMW
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