The BMW i4 will have a competitive range to rival the Tesla Model S

It is now official: the BMW i4 will offer a range higher than initially expected

Rumours suggested the BMW i4 would have a range of more than 400 km. Little by little, the information and hints from the brand pointed to a figure above that, and the challenge was to deliver 300 miles of distance available from the energy stored in the battery of the new BMW saloon.

Long-range battery

Finally, today the German brand has confirmed that its brand-new saloon will offer more than 500 km of range, and in fact it will be around 600. Moreover, thanks to advances in technology, the BMW i4 will be able to charge its battery to 80 per cent in around 35 minutes and, if necessary, could gain a range of 100 km with just 6 minutes of connection to the charging point.

All of this thanks to a design built around an electric system, where all the elements form part of a whole and each element counts as a fundamental piece in the overall scheme.

For example, from the software that controls the powerful powertrain to the design of the battery, everything has been designed, evaluated and built with the aim of delivering maximum performance while offering maximum efficiency levels.

Powerful and electric

Regarding the electric motor of this car, the manufacturer states that the unit the BMW i4 will use will have a power output equivalent to that of the brutal cars that leave the assembly line of the M department, the 390 kW V8s, that is, 530 CV.

Moreover, when we talk about the power and range of the future saloon, we must not forget that the car built from the BMW i4 prototypes currently in the testing phase has among its conceptual requirements to offer a perfect combination of performance and dynamism without giving up an iota of the comfort standards for which BMW saloons are known.

This behaviour on the asphalt will come not only from the architecture that gives the new BMW cars a sporty and comfortable chassis, but also from the architecture and layout of the set of cells that make up the high-voltage battery of the BMW i4.

Placing a low-height battery will improve the centre of gravity, a feature common to electric and hybrid cars, since by locating the weight of the battery close to the floor, stability in motion is enhanced, which increases cornering efficiency and improves composure during acceleration and reduced-radius turns.
Still in the testing phase

With all this, the future

BMW i4 will be presented in 2020, the year in which we will learn the final version of a vehicle that will be on sale from 2021.

Only then will we know whether, as with other vehicles, the range of the BMW i4 offers different capacity levels or a single standard is set which, in any case, will place this saloon among the cars with the greatest available mileage on a single charge.

Technical specifications of this car

HatchbackBMW i43 versions · from 58,650 €