Yahoo Autos BMW's Electric i4 Spied for the First Time, Coming in 2021
UPDATE 1/25/19: Our spies have caught a camouflaged i4 riding on the back of a car carrier, giving us our first look at the new four-door EV. We have added the photos and updated the story below.
At the Paris auto show in October, BMW chairman Harald Krüger confirmed that the brand will be launching a fourth all-new electric vehicle in 2021. Dubbed the i4, it will be the BMW Group's fifth fully electric "core" model.
The i4 will follow the form set by last year's i Vision Dynamics concept, which, at the time, we thought would take the name i5. BMW has given no details on the production i4 aside from the release date, but that concept had an electric range of 373 miles (albeit on the very optimistic European test cycle), a top speed of 125 mph, and a zero-to-62-mph time of 4.0 seconds. Unlike the current i3 and i8, the i4 sadly won't use a carbon-fiber structure.
Now, we have gotten our first look at a heavily camouflaged i4 prototype thanks to a fresh set of spy photos, and we can see a good amount of influence from the radical Vision Dynamics concept. The "four-door coupe" silhouette remains, and we can see an angular c-pillar, a decklid with a slight ducktail spoiler lip, and a bluff front end with a sloping hood. The camo on the front end gives the illusion of the presence of small kidney grilles, but we wouldn't be surprised to see the concept's massive, blocked-off, conjoined kidneys make it onto the production car. Most of the details are obscured and the head- and taillights aren't production units, but almost-flush door handles are visible. Like the 4-series Gran Coupe, the i4 looks to be a liftback with a fairly large hatchback opening. Based on these photos, the i4 seems ready for production-certainly more than ready for a 2021 on-sale date.
Over the next three years, the BMW Group will launch three other new EVs. The first, in 2019, will be the Mini Electric. That car was previewed by a concept last year; the production car should keep many of the concept's design details and most likely will share its powertrain with the refreshed i3, for which BMW claims a range of 153 miles.
Next up will be the iX3 in 2020, which also was previewed by an almost-production-ready concept. The iX3 is exactly what it sounds like: an electric version of the X3 crossover. The concept has a 70.0-kWh battery pack and a range of 249 miles on the European cycle, and the production version will be built in China for export to the United States.
Finally, also coming in 2021 will be the iNext, which-again-was previewed by the Vision iNext concept. Taking the form of a futuristic compact crossover, the iNext will act as BMW's technological flagship and will be built at BMW's Dingolfing, Germany, plant. R&D chief Klaus Fröhlich told C/D that it could have a range of 373 miles and hit 60 mph in less than four seconds.
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