We don’t love electric cars….yet. Maybe we never will. That isn’t going to slow the electrification trend that is spreading dendritically across the entire industry so like it or not, the future is battery packs, not pistons and connecting rods.
Mention the local charging infrastructure that seems to progress at a glacial pace, our middling feelings turn to intense indignation (Tesla owners are somewhat immune to this because their charging network is light years ahead of everyone else’s.) If you need to juice up and employ a locating app or even the suggestions built into the vehicle’s map function to do so, well, we wish you luck. The day before heading up to cottage country so we could soak up the beautiful fall foliage, we went to no less than seven (!) different charging locations before giving up and making the inconvenient trip back to BMW headquarters to use theirs. Some we visited would not accept payment, some were occupied by other cars, others still had commercial vans parked across their parking spaces rendering them inaccessible and therefore useless. The ones that were supposed to be working according to various apps were in fact out of order where we arrived.
This is by no means the fault of the 2022 BMW i4 40 we were driving- it seemed to wince apologetically under a torrent of unsuitable cuss words as our frustration grew with each unsuccessful stop, its commendable range of 454 kilometers depleting in futility. Would be EV owners will no doubt have a charging station installed at their home base, but since we don’t have one at ours, we had to rely on a network of support that is subpar at least and rage inducing at best.
The i4 we recently retrieved on a beautiful early fall morning was not the M50i that everyone is talking about- some have taken to calling it the ‘EV M3.’ That cool customer has electric motors on both axle which make it all ate up with horsepower and lend it incredible traction to the point where it meets or outperforms its iconic gas fed counterpart. Instead, we’d be driving the 40i model which is the middle child and packing a single motor on the rear axle only. BMW will be adding a base 35i model with less power and range for the budget conscious and just the ticket for those who commute mostly in urban contexts.
Suffice it say that walking up to it in the carpark, sitting there wearing an innocuous coat of white paint, it didn’t scream ‘Cool!’ the way some of BMW’s offerings do. And, in the interest of conserving recious electrons, we promptly set the Drive mode to Eco Pro which isn’t exactly the setting that sets enthusiast hearts afire. Yet for any underwhelming vibes we felt on that first day, during the course of our week with the i4 we first grew to merely respect it- and when it was time to give it back, we found ourselves really liking it to the point where it stung to surrender the keys.
Starting with the exterior, BMW resisted the temptation to make the car look like a contrived space capsule. Instead, it looks very much like gas fed 4-series Gran Coupe, which is to say handsome but not trying too hard. Your eyes are fooled into thinking it has a conventual trunk out back, but its actually a large rear hatch that opens to reveal a large cargo area, and since it’s so low, loading it up is a cinch. The only thing that we’d change is the now infamous massive kidney grille BMW insists is here to stay, and since that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon so we just accepted its massive shnoz. Other than that, the i4’s looks are some of the best to come out of Munich’s design studio as of late- understated but striking without being over styled.
Same goes for the interior. The i4’s cockpit looks what you’ll find in most midrange BMW offerings. The first thing that caught our admiring eye was the meticulous fit and finish on display. Everything fits together with millimetric precision, and you get the feeling that many details were sweated when they designed the inside. The materials are overall pleasing to interact with, but the crown jewel is the newest version of BMW’s iDrive infotainment system and the swath of curved digital screens that span nearly the entire dashboard. In the first 5 minutes we felt slightly out of sorts with its new interface- but that was only because we’ve grown so familiar with the outgoing version. The learning curve is hardly what you’d call steep, and after a week it was unanimous that the newest one is the best one yet. Excellent graphics and menu structure contribute to what amounts to a very pleasant user experience. The new 12.3” digital instrument panel, which gave a pang of nostalgia towards BMW’s lovely old analogue setups, is actually great. It does not bard you with senseless information and folksy animations, instead providing a clean and precise platform for the most pertinent driving information. Another asset of the i4 interior is not one you’ll find on a spec sheet, and that’s the hushed quiet of it all. At highway speeds the only thing you hear is the air tickling the side mirrors and A pillars. You can access a menu of synthetic EV sounds, but we grew tired of that real fast and went right back to relishing the library like silence instead.
Cue the inevitable comparisons the i4 will endure alongside its gas powered stablemate, the 430i Gran Coupe. When it comes to driving and performance metrics, the i4 soundly trounces its petroleum fed brethren. Not only is it quicker in every measurement, but its ride and handling characteristics play in a league higher than the 430i. Some of that credit goes to the lower centre of gravity thanks to the massive battery pack underneath the floor, but the suspension tuning is very well judged too. It reminded us that BMW used to build some of the best riding/best handling cars you could buy. The only complaint we have is the steering, which is extremely isolated even compared to the numbest rack the brand currently offers. Things get better in Sport mode but not by much. At least it tracks resolutely straight on the highway.
The only thing that really amounted to a complaint that bubbled to the surface after a few days of driving the i4 was the disappointing brake feel. The finger of blame does not fall on the braking hardware itself, because oversized discs clamped by good sized calipers leave little to gripe about. The issue is that like most EVs, the brakes exchange kinetic energy for potential and feed electrons that would have otherwise been wasted back to the battery pack. Problem is, the i4 has that setup on the rear axle only, so combining the regenerative brakes out back with the conventional friction ones up front can lead to stops that feel and appear less graceful that you might like.
The i4 is a fine EV, yes, but it also serves as a salve for the worries of legions of BMW faithful. It is tangible evidence that the electrified future of The Ultimate Driving Machine brand isn’t dark and foreboding. Perhaps it's time we secured the keys to the M50i model to determine just how close BMW comes to capturing M magic in a battery pack. Now, if only the charging infrastructure can catch up the i4’s virtuosity…
2022 BMW i4 eDrive 40 - Specifications
- Price as tested: $71,890
- Body Type: 4-door, 5 passenger sedan
- Powertrain Layout: Rear Electric Motor/Rear-Wheel Drive
- Power Source: FRONT- current-excited synchronous AC
- Battery Capacity/Type: 81.5-kWh liquid cooled lithium-ion
- Total Horsepower: 335 @ 0 rpm
- Total Torque (lb-ft.): 317 @ 0 rpm
- Transmission: 1-speed direct drive
- Curb weight: 2,131 kg (4,699 lbs)
- Observed Energy Economy: 13.2kWh/100km