It’s always the same story – whenever a BMW debuts, it’s usually the M Performance version that gets most of the attention. Such was the case with the i4 unveiled a little over a year ago as the focus was put on the M50 aka “the first purely electric performance car from BMW M GmbH.” The lesser eDrive40 didn’t get much love from the media, although BMWBLOG was among the first publications to shoot the entry-level variant.
The Australian folks at CarExpert spent some quality time with the rear-wheel-drive EV and put the i4 eDrive40 through its paces in an acceleration test. For such a heavy car – tipping the scales at 2,050 kilograms – it’s no slouch, with the specs sheet provided by BMW saying it takes 5.7 seconds to hit 62 mph (100 km/h).
The journalists Down Under couldn’t match that, but the 6.1-second time they achieved is still decent considering the electric gran coupe lacks a front motor and therefore does without xDrive. For reference, the gasoline-fueled 430i Gran Coupe is a tenth of a second slower while carrying around approximately 400 kg less than the i4 eDrive40.
Despite being quite heavy, CarExpert found the car to be quite tail-happy in typical BMW fashion, but the journalists believe it’s a bit too expensive for what it offers compared to segment rivals. It’s also partially compromised in terms of packaging since it’s based on a platform developed for vehicles with combustion engines.
The same strategy has been applied for the i3 and i7 sedans, along with the iX1 and iX3 crossovers. For a bespoke EV, 2025 will be the year when the Neue Klasse architecture will debut with a model in the 3 Series’ segment.
Meanwhile, it is believed BMW is planning to diversify the i4 range beyond the existing eDrive40 and M50. The end of the year should bring a new entry-level trim with 300 hp as well as a spicy dual-motor xDrive40 with 400 hp.
Source: CarExpert / YouTube
