IT seems like forever ago that BMW put itself at the front of the electrified car grid with its bold i3 and i8 models.
They appeared in 2013 and 2014 respectively but since then… not a lot has happened, though BMW’s plug-in hybrid versions of its regular series cars have proved popular.
But the i sub-brand is at long last awakening from its slumbers.
Later this year - or at least that was the plan before coronavirus intervened - we can expect an electric version of the X3 SUV, imaginatively enough named the iX3.
Another electric SUV, this time called the iNext, is expected in 2021.
Also due next year is the car on this page, which will be known as the i4 and is a direct rival to the Tesla Model 3.
For now BMW has shown the car under the ‘Concept i4’ badge, but when it goes on sale it will look more or less like this.
It’s hard to look past the absolutely ridiculous grille area - a beaver-toothed aberration that is as large as it is vulgar, and obviously redundant on an electric car.
Here, in its own words, is how BMW attempts to justify the monstrosity: “The front-end treatment of the BMW Concept i4 presents the familiar BMW icons in a new look, lending a visually powerful face to the electric age at BMW.
“The prominent, closed-off kidney grille provides a tangible connection between the past and future of BMW.
“The BMW icon also gains new functionality: With no combustion engine to require cooling, the grille now serves primarily as an ‘intelligence panel’ housing various sensors.”
The rest of the i4 looks ‘kind of OK’, which is increasingly becoming as good as it gets for the BMW design department.
It will be built in Munich along the 3 Series and the imminent 4 Series, and is adapted from those cars.
Even if you can’t stomach the car’s looks, you should enjoy its vital statistics. BMW talks of 530bhp, a 0-62mph time of 4.0 seconds, top speed “in excess of” 120mph and a range of around 370 miles.
