Rumor: New BMW i4 – Rear-wheel and all-wheel drive, 60 and 80 kWh battery packs

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BMW’s next big electric offensive will arrive in the form of the BMW i4 and iNEXT. Both electric cars are slated to get a 2021 launch – remains to be seen that comes out first. In contrast to other models, BMW has been extremely generous lately with details on the 2 cars. The iNEXT subject has been debated at large by BMW executives, while the i4’s name and details were released by BMW CEO Harald Krueger.

Needless to say, some details were held back, but as we get closer to the launch date – and potential pre-drives and teasers of the 2 cars – some tech specs are beginning to come out. Back in October 2018, we were the first to speak about some of the facts of the i4, a car based on the upcoming 4 Series Gran Coupe, which in turn is built upon the G20 3 Series platform.

We talked about the i4 80 – that is one of the titles given to the new EV indicating the battery capacity found in the vehicle. But along with the 80 kWh battery pack, BMW is also rumored to offer you a less expensive version with lower EV range to be marketed under the i4 60 badge.

Currently BMW offers one electric car – the i3 and its “s” sportier version – that has received several battery upgrades since its introduction 7 decades back. The latest one – BMW i3 120Ah – includes a gross power storage of 42.2kWh (kiloWatt hours) giving the car a range of 152 miles (246 km) based on EPA.

BMW CEO Harald Krueger said last year that the i4 will be coming with the Organization ’s fifth generation of eDrive technology so it will be delivering the functionality we’re all waiting for:

“With the fifth generation of eDrive, our vehicles will be able to drive 550 to 700 km on electric power, based on the model. We’ll attain this at the BMW i4 and the iNEXT. ”

So while the i4 60 might not be able to reach that target, the i4 80 is the one which will cater to people with driving range anxiety.

What’s much more interesting than the battery packs and electric miles is the option between a rear-wheel drive i4 or one equipped with the xDrive system. Now all customer around the world will have the luxury to select the drivetrain according to their driving taste or climate conditions, a departure from the rear-wheel drive i3 which almost always requires winter tires in the cold and snowy areas of the world.

Although some clients are complaining about the lack of a proper Tesla-fighter today, BMW executives have promised us – in previous discussions – that the wait will be well worth it, considering BMW’s approach to launch fully-tested and well-refined cars.

With the majority of international automakers focusing on electro-mobility, one thing is sure – the EV market will look significantly different past 2020 than it looks today and it is going to be just as competitive as the one for combustion engines.

The article Rumor: New BMW i4 – Rear-wheel and all-wheel drive, 60 and 80 kWh battery packs appeared on BMW BLOG


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