Earlier this year, we saw images of BMW i4 test mules on a trailer, and it looks like the prototypes are now out and about undergoing tests. Our spy photographers caught the electric sedan, the production version of the i Vision Dynamics concept, running around in Munich, and they even scored photos of the interior.
As we’ve seen before, the car will be markedly different from the show car – and look rather like a next-gen 4 Series Gran Coupé – even though it’s still wearing plenty of camouflage. Firstly, the glasshouse omits the distinctive B-pillar kinks, so it no longer mirrors the shape of the conjoined double kidney grille.
The headlights are also larger than the concept’s slitlike items, and it’s also unlikely that the polarising full-height “grilles” will be retained. At the rear, one can spot regular L-shaped tail lights and a tailgate instead of a regular bootlid, along with a hilarious printed-on “exhaust pipe”.
Of bigger news is the interior, which will lose the modernist, minimalist aesthetic of the current i3 and i8 and become more closely aligned with BMW’s mainstream lineup. In fact, the dashboard has been lifted wholesale from the new G20 3 Series, complete with the large twin displays, the geometric chrome-trimmed air vents and the new control panel surrounding the stubby gearlever. Expect the production model to sport a few unique trim and upholstery options to distance itself from its more humdrum brethren.
No technical details have been revealed just yet, but the car should feature the automaker’s fifth-generation electric tech, which will offer among other things a choice of three modular battery kits with varying capacities, ranging from 60 kWh (approximately 450 km range) and 90 kWh (approximately 550 km range) to 120 kWh (approximately 700 km range).
By comparison, the i Vision Dynamics boasted a 600 km operating range, a zero-to-100 km/h time of four seconds and a top speed of 200 km/h. The i4 will arrive a year after the iX3, and around the same time as the production version of last year’s Vision iNEXT.
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