BMW this week revealed a taut-handling sport sedan with a high-performance version, both of which happen to be electric vehicles (EVs). The 2022 BMW i4 eDrive40 and i4 M50 are sporty 4-door luxury cars that fit easily into the same garage as the 3 Series and 4 Series and do it without emitting anything.
Let’s get this out of the way first – yes, BMW has made and sold electric cars before. The i3 is a delightful little urban runabout. But a little urban runabout is not what you think of when you hear the name BMW, is it?
You think of sport sedans. And here they are, without tailpipes.
The i4 will reach dealerships in the first quarter of 2022. The i4 eDrive 40 will come at a starting price of $55,400, while dealers will ask $65,900 for the M50 (both also require a $995 destination charge). Federal tax credits will reduce the price of each by as much as $7,500. That makes them quite competitive with the gas-powered 3 and 4 Series.
Classic BMW Looks
If it weren’t for the lack of tailpipes, you could think the i4 was a new interpretation of the 4 Series Gran Coupe. The big twin-kidney grille that some BMW fans have lamented looks quite good here – even if it’s fake (EVs have no use for the airflow of a grille).
Subtle character lines in the hood blend it into the rest of the car well. Ice blue accents around the grille and at the doorsills are BMW’s visual cue that you’re looking at an electric car. And they work. They’re cool.
The lightweight alloy wheels, BMW says, “feature an aerodynamically optimized design.”
Clean, Modern Interior
The interior shares an obvious family resemblance with gas-powered BMWs as well. Designers have given it a false transmission tunnel to keep the cabin styled like drivers are used to. The driver’s information screen and central infotainment screen are two separate units but placed to look like one continuous curve of glass. Anti-glare technology means there’s no need for an instrument binnacle to shade them.
BMW’s latest iDrive 8 system controls entertainment and climate functions.
Three-zone temperature control means driver, front passenger, and rear passengers all get their own climate settings. BMW says, “Cutting-edge nanofiber filter technology is used to purify the air inside the car more effectively, with nano-fleece and activated carbon layers further improving air quality in the interior.”
Drivers can configure ambient lighting almost endlessly. BMW says pulsating light signals can alert the driver to an incoming phone call or an open door.
Cinematic Sound Experience
EVs make very little sound. Yet, drivers are used to cars that make all sorts of engine noises. To give drivers something like they’re used to, updated for an EV world, BMW hired famed composer Hans Zimmer to create a suite of sounds for the i4 eDrive 40, and a separate set for the sportier i4 M50.
“When underway, a drive sound developing a strikingly transparent timbre with spherical components delivers authentic feedback to every movement of the accelerator,” the company says. “The character of the sound alters according to the vehicle setting chosen with the Driving Experience Control switch. This means that in SPORT mode the car’s aural spectrum is more dominant and powerful.”
BMW Performance, with an Xbox Twist
Both models use the same 81.5-kilowatt-hour battery pack. BMW says it should manage up to 300 miles of driving range in the i4 eDrive 40 and up to 245 in the M50. The EPA hasn’t tested those claims.
With a Level 2 charger, the battery can recharge from empty to 100% in less than 8 hours. With the sort of DC fast charger found at some commercial charging stations, BMW says, it can add 90 miles of driving range in just 10 minutes.
The eDrive 40 model has a single electric motor mounted to the rear axle, good for 335 horsepower and rear-drive performance. The faster M50 has a second mounted to the front axle. That gives it all-wheel-drive grip and a total output of 536 horsepower.
The M50 can also access a temporary boost of 67 more horsepower for 10 seconds. BMW calls this, and we’re not making this up, a “feature slightly comparable to Mario Kart, you can keep on pressing the Sport Boost button as long as the battery allows.”
Related: Electric Cars 101: What You Need to Know
