BMW has released teasers of the BMW Concept i4, which will make its debut next month at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show. The showcar will preview Munich’s first fully-electric Gran Coupe, which is BMW’s term for four-door coupe. Prior to this, BMW released some tech details.
“The BMW Concept i4 heralds a new era in Sheer Driving Pleasure; it provides a whole new take on the dynamic excellence for which BMW is renowned and blends a modern, elegantly sporty design with the spaciousness and practicality of a four-door Gran Coupe – all while generating zero local emissions,” the carmaker said.
“The BMW Concept i4 brings electrification to the core of the BMW brand. The design is dynamic, clean and elegant. In short: a perfect BMW that happens to be zero emission,” said Adrian van Hooydonk, senior VP at BMW Group Design.
The Concept i4’s shape is as expected of a four-door version of the upcoming 4 Series, which was previewed in September 2019 by the BMW Concept 4. That showcar stunned most observers with a controversial nose grille, but aside from the face, it had a classic coupe profile and nice proportions. Highly sculpted at the front and rear wings, too.
We’ve put the Concept 4 coupe and the Gran Coupe body of the Concept i4 side by side above, and as you can see, the four-door’s profile is remarkably similar to the coupe’s, save for a subtly elongated window area. Without the rear door handles, it could even pass off as an actual coupe. Will BMW persist with the vertical kidney grille from the Concept 4? We’ll see.
As for what’s under the hood, it’s BMW’s fifth-generation eDrive electric powertrain. With a completely redesigned electric motor, power electronics, charging unit and battery, the modular system delivers up to 530 PS, all from just a single motor at the rear. BMW has said that the i4 will be capable of 0-100 km/h in around four seconds and a top speed in excess of 200 km/h.
On the flip side, the 80 kWh battery – situated flat under the floor – is set to deliver a range of around 600 km. The charging unit is capable of receiving up to 150 kW, allowing the battery to be charged to around 80% in 35 minutes, or add 100 km of range in just six minutes.
The production BMW i4 is slated for a 2021 debut.
GALLERY: BMW Concept 4
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