The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Elegant and powerful i4 brings EVs to core of the BMW brand Metal Tech News Weekly Edition – March 4, 2020
BMW Group unveils Concept i4, a 540-horsepower, all-electric gran coupe slated for series production in 2021.
Workers assemble battery packs at BMW's Competence Centre for E-Drive Production, a facility that produces motors, battery modules and high-voltage batteries.
BMW Group has unveiled its Concept i4, a gran coupe that brings fully electric vehicles to the core of the BMW brand.
"The design is dynamic, clean and elegant. In short: a perfect BMW that happens to be zero emission," Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President BMW Group Design said when describing the Concept i4.
The concept revealed on March 2 represents a look ahead to the BMW i4, slated to enter production in 2021.
BMW said the Concept i4 blends a modern, elegantly sporty design with the spaciousness and functionality of a four-door coupe – all while generating zero local emissions.
"The design of the BMW Concept i4 shows fantastic proportions, a powerfully expressive character and, of course, a lot of attention to detail," says Domagoj Dukec, head of BMW Design.
The 530-horsepower electric motor accelerates the Concept i4 from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour (0 to 60 miles per hour) in roughly four seconds and reaches a top speed in excess of 200 km/h (124 mph).
BMW says the virtually silent power delivered by the i4 Concept motor creates an entirely new sensation of dynamism.
This sensation is being delivered by BMW's fifth generation eDrive technology.
The electric motor, power electronics, charging unit and high-voltage battery using fifth-generation BMW eDrive technology are all-new developments enabling the BMW Group to take another significant step forward in the field of electrified drive systems.
The fifth generation of BMW eDrive also brings a newly designed high-voltage battery with the very latest battery cell technology. The version of the battery developed for the BMW i4 impresses with its extremely slim construction and optimized energy density, which weighs in at 550 kilograms (1,213 pounds) yet stores enough electricity to provide the EV with an impressive range of up to 600 kilometers (373 miles).
Series production of the new BMW i4 will begin in 2021 at the BMW Group's main plant in Munich. This means that, in the future, combustion-engined vehicles, plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles will be manufactured on the same assembly line in Munich.
BMW Group is investing a total of around 200 million euros in the Munich facility to bring series production of the BMW i4 to fruition.
This investment will add the equipment needed for the i4 body design, especially the machinery involved in building the rear structure, as well as a new piece of equipment for installation of the high-voltage battery.
In February, BMW Group announced a massive expansion of its Competence Centre for E-Drive Production, a facility that produces electric motors, battery modules and high-voltage batteries for the growing line of electric and hybrid vehicles coming off the German car company's assembly lines.
More information on the BMW Group Competence Centre for E-Drive Production can be read in BMW expands battery plant on EV demand in the Feb. 12 edition of Metal Tech News.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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