BMW continues with his vision of the future. Without a doubt, electric cars will have a great weight in a few years. The bmw concept i4 It is a prototype that anticipates what the series production BMW i4 will be like, which will go into production in 2021. It will be the BMW's first electric car for the medium segment.
Focusing on the novelties that this BMW Concept i4 shows, the first thing to highlight is a prototype of electric grand coupe where its design, its technology and its more than outstanding features are striking. Who said that the future of the automotive industry was going to be boring?
New identity and futurism
Aesthetically it is an imposing car. It's hard to take your eyes off front, where the double kidney design captures our attention. The traditional grilles are very large and not as wide as on other recent models, for example the new BMW 7 Series or X7. No less striking are the shapes of its bumper, with huge vertical air intakes and very dynamic lines. Something similar happens with the main headlights, which seem embedded in the bodywork.
Turning around the car, the shapes are very clean and focused on achieving a low drag coefficient. The silhouette It has a very smooth line, making it clear that we are dealing with a Gran Coupé. In this section, the almost completely closed rims, the mirrors and the blue detail at the bottom of this side are striking. At the end of this side, the edge of the boot forms a "ducktail" design. a very style fastback.
It is also very impressive back. The edge of the boot draws even more attention in this view, being fully integrated into the design of the taillights. The loading mouth, yes, seems high and not too wide. And is that the rear bumper is huge, resorting again to a very aggressive aesthetic. Look at the lower part and that diffuser that seems to be taken directly from the world of competition.
Pure minimalism
There is no doubt that the cabin is very minimalist. Fair controls have been kept, focusing everything on a new digital experience for the driver. And it is that, it seems, the production BMW i4 will be a vehicle focused on digitization.
As you see, the dashboard has a very clean design -like the exterior- centering everything on the double screen. As usual, the one located behind the steering wheel will serve as the instrument panel, while the central one will collect the infotainment system and some vehicle settings. BMW says that this provision will be very similar to what we will see in the next BMW iNEXT and BMW i4.
Continuing with the cabin, this Concept i4 has an interior designed for four occupants. We have four individual seats and, despite being a coupe model, I don't think we feel claustrophobic. More than anything because as you can see, the whole roof is glass, from the front windshield to the rear. There will be no lack of light, of course.
Experience modes: Core, Sport and Efficient
BMW wants to go one step further, or so they intend to try. To do this, they have created three "experience modes" that vary the information on the screens, the performance of the propulsion system and the interior environment. These modes are “Core”, “Sport” and “Efficient”.
Depending on the selected mode, the car will show a neutral experience, more sporty and aggressive or, on the contrary, smoother and more efficient. The entire driver environment adapts to the driver's requirements simply by switching from one mode to another. This is not a great novelty, but it seems that BMW intends to make these changes more noticeable than in other models.
530 CV and 600 km of autonomy
Not everything is appearance and design. Performance plays a very important role in this model which, as we said above, will be the brand's first medium-sized electric car. The BMW Concept i4 uses the fifth generation of BMW eDrive, the set of systems and electrical propulsion of the company.
In this case we are talking about a vehicle with an 80 kWh battery, which allows it to travel a few 600 kilometers with a single charge. For its part, the propulsion system is capable of developing 530 hp. Unfortunately, BMW has not confirmed how many electric motors it uses and neither has performance data such as 0 to 100 km/h, maximum speed or, also importantly, recharging times.
Production of the BMW i4
Yes, the BMW Concept i4 is a preview of the future BMW i4. The final production model will start manufacturing in 2021 at the brand's plant in Munich. This means that combustion, plug-in hybrid and electric models will be manufactured in the same place. To do this, the Bavarian company is investing nearly 200 million euros in the plant, which is said soon.
