This ‘battery-included’ rendition of a well-received combustion-engined sibling maintains driver-focused DNA.

Price: $137,900

Powertrain and economy: Twin electric motors, 400kW/795Nm, single-speed automatic, AWD, combined economy 23.3kWh/100km.

Vital statistics: 4783mm long, 1852mm wide, 1448mm high, 2856mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 470 litres, 19-inch alloy wheels.

We like: Authentic and engaging BMW driving feel; premium-level polish; impressive technology.

Not so much: Cabin room is limited; drive hard and consumption might shock; four star NCAP.

AFTER a period of almost disquieting dormancy, BMW has reawakened it’s ‘i’ electric car intentions and things are looking good – if also a touch more orthodox.

It didn’t start that way. The quirky but incredibly forward-thinking i3 runabout that started off the genre, and departed the scene a year ago, and the i8 coupe were initial planet-stormers that, despite each delivering impressive merits at technical level, were overall in hindsight a bit too much, too soon. Neither caught on as successfully as Munich hoped they would.

Now, seven years on, comes phase two: A slew of electrics that are just as technically expressive but perhaps little less exhibitionist, save for one. The iX is arguably the car that best keeps to the old formula in that it’s built on a bespoke EV platform and shares no panels or even much design influence from any other BMW. Look at the iX3, i4, iX1 and even the incoming i7, on the other hand, and you see more orthodoxy and something else. They’re electric versions of cars also availed in fossil fuelled form.

Good strategy? Those who believe car makers have moral duty to cut themselves off from Big Oil allegiance as of yesterday, might think this is a cop-out. Realistically, it’s anything but.

Believe it or not, there are still a lot of countries, important places, that don’t yet feel need to pull the plug on fossil fuels just yet. The clever part of BMW’s ‘i’ drive is the flexibility to serve those who will. Plus those that won’t. At least, not just yet.

No argument, Munich full well knows electric isn’t a fad but a solid future. But from the approach it has decided on, BMW can more securely expand electric ambition, including into formats others might deem too risky. As example, next year’s new i5. The first fully electric Five Series will provision not only as a sedan but also as a station wagon. A good opportunity with very few competitors. 

The i4 M50 on test here has similar standing. What you see is intrinsically an electric version of the 4 Series Gran Coupe which is itself the five-door fastback version of the two-door 4 Series Coupe.

Rendered down to just that sentence makes the process sound much easier than it really was. BMW assures this IS a proper electric car, subject to much more effort than merely pulling out a combustion drivetrain, bunging in electric paraphernalia and swapping the regular kidney grille for a closed-off type.

The clever CLAR underpinning is designed for electric and that though the battery came out after the petrols, the integration was always planned, hence why it is so cleanly resolved. Also why it achieves the latest, fifth-generation eDrive electrical system, with the electric motor, transmission and electronics all contained in a single unit for greater efficiency.

Nonetheless, being an EV based on an internal combustion engine car inevitably requires compromise. Swapping out an engine and gearbox should open up a big space under the bonnet, but not in this case. There’s no frunk. 

The packaging reminds the reason why so many new electrics become sports utilities. That format offers much easier packaging solutions than a low-slung and quite svelte shape delivers.

 Packing an onboard charger and another electric motor pack to accommodate where usually there’s a fuel tank and a differential appears to have been highly challenging. It’s remarkable, really, that the end result is merely that the rear seat sits slightly higher.  

As is often the case, the 84kWh lithium ion battery in the main adds as a layer under the floorpan. Looks-wise, this integration blends so well into the overall design it’s hardly noticeable. Different story when the car hits the scales. The battery pack alone is a 550kg component; all up, it’s 2300kg at the kerbside. 

Lardy? Well, it’s certainly porkier than the petrols – really, in this setting it’s hauling as many kilos as the previous generation X5 diesel - but you know how it goes with electric: There’s plenty of phat to compensate.

Here, the motors generate 400kW. So, unsurprisingly, it’s an absolute rocket in a straight line, clearing the 0-100kmh sprint in 3.9 seconds and feeling massively thrusty when snicked into the ultimate performance mode, called Sport Boost, which releases not only all the power but also close to 800Nm torque.

You will save this setting for special occasions, as not only does it put your licence at huge peril but it also depletes the battery alarmingly. Fifteen minutes of, erm, enthusiastic driving added 20kms to the odometer but reduced the onboard computer’s range estimation by 100kms.  The issue of range anxiety shouldn’t prove to be a problem, all the same, because even though the factory-proposed ideal of more than 500kms per charge seems a bit of a stretch, the car when in my car had no problem accomplishing more than 400 when driven with reasonable commitment to common sense. 

As with any other electric – in fact, any car – it’ll guzzle if you keep the throttle to the floor. But the everyday circumstances that allow this really cannot be imagined; you’re maybe using one-fifth of its performance ability in everyday activity and anyone pushing beyond that point will surely unavoidably attract the attention of the law. 

All the same, it’s obvious those playing with the car are going to at least dabble; accelerative oomph is still the EV cachet everyone wants to demonstrate, right?  

What’s good about the i4 and its thrust is that, as much as it leaves you wide-eyed, it doesn’t leave you feeling on verge of wetting your pants in fear.

Everything about the car’s behaviour here – and, indeed, in all situations where you would have expectation of it delivering dynamic flair – speaks to it being a product of a brand with a very enviable reputation for engineering skill. The traction systems are excellent and BMW has treated to very good sports-rated rubber ensure the wheels don’t lose contact.

You don’t need Sport Boost to demonstrate that it’s muscular. While this setting lends a tangible increase to its aggression, even in the more modest drive modes save for Eco, it’s still a very rapid car, with mid four second potentials.

 Of course, a lot of electrics are quick in a straight line. What proves their mettle is the dynamic aspect.

While it would be stretching things to say the i4 is a direct match for BMW petrol-reliant performance cars on the same platform in respect to how it rewards, this is a brand whose talent for sorting a chassis is well known. Beyond that, there’s the M50 designation. That in itself speaks of higher-level credibility.  Munich’s performance division doesn’t do badge engineering. 

Agree, there’s M and there’s full-blown M. The M50 isn’t going to overthrow the throne. Outside of the straight line sprint, something like an M4 will ultimately be handier, but that’s only to be expected. Yet by any measure beyond just comparison purely with other electric cars, the M50 delivers real reward.  

Push toward the envelope’s edge and it delivers with confidence and charisma. Air suspension is standard and the all-wheel-drive setup and the adaptive M dampers does a great job of controlling the body without being ruinous to ride quality and enhancing the at-limit stability. In short, it is a car that can be trusted to do the right thing when driven hard.

The tenacious road holding is abetted by excellent brakes; the system is set up to undertake the EV eco trick of one-pedal braking in light driving conditions, yet is also engineered to be up to performance driving, in which pedal sensitivity makes all the difference.  

That must have been a massive challenge, but one well-met. Transition from regen to friction braking is impressive in its seamlessness. Though the forward motor’s feed through the front wheels is felt at times, to point where there’s some tug, it is overall a balanced car.

That it does this, yet also imparts strongly as a very good long distance cruiser, and beyond that delivers favourably as a premium product all the anticipated quality touches (not just in its trim elements and styling presentation, but also in its impeccable build), are all good signs.

The pitch it puts in respect to buy-in appeal is one of singularity. Almost all new EVs in its price sphere are sold new here are either sports utilities or are being touted as that kind of thing. A ground-hugging four-door coupe is a million miles from that scene. The only real rivals it has are the Polestar 2 (and that’s tenuous) or a Model 3 Performance, which has huge pace but perhaps lacks the same pedigree.

At same token the maddest version of Musk’s most successful car might be a more practical choice. The Tesla Model 3 might be more designed than styled, but it is a more useful car insofar as interior space goes; on that scale the BMW also sits behind the Sino-Swedish choice, even though that one frustrates for tight foot space and limited headroom.  

It’s the genes. Any 4-Series is tight in the rear, but the Gran Coupe styling is all the more so and, of course, as said the rear seat is little higher here. It’s just that it restricts for headroom. When the driver seats his/her seat for optimal position, there’s sod-all foot room under the chair for anyone behind. What also takes up space is the transmission tunnel. Which isn’t needed as the i4 has nothing to fill it.

Conversely, it turns the tables completely for boot space; the capacity of a minimum 470 litres (rising to 1290 litres with the rear seat sections folded) reminding, perhaps, that BMW has taken notice of golf being among the top leisure pursuits of its clientele.

There’s enough space for a full set of clubs and, likely, a trundler as well. It also delivers decent in-cabin storage accommodation and solutions, with bottle holders in the doors, a pair of cup holders in the console, a shallow tray under the armrest with a USB-C charger and a wireless charging pad under the centre stack, as well as a USB-A port. 

The i4 configures in two specs, and I’ve yet to see the ‘40’. Even though it also features 19-inch alloys, leather upholstery, auto LED headlights, head-up display, adaptive suspension, auto parking LED headlights, auto wipers, three-zone climate control, powered front seats, a powered tailgate and a digital dashboard, the entry car is more constrained in its equipment provision than the flagship.  

The M50 adds various M aero bits in carbonfibre, flasher-looking rims shod with Pirelli P Zero tyres and gets sports front seats with heating, brilliant Laserlight headlights, a very impressive 16-speaker Harmon Kardon stereo and a massive sunroof that, being tall, I’d likely wish to drop.

The central attraction of the interior is the twin screen display, lifted from the iX, with the major 14.0-inch touch-activated section running BMW’s the latest OS 8, which looks impressively techy. It’s not overly sophisticated, but there are many options to click through.

 You get connected functionality, sat-nav, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and digital radio. Plus a clock that spells out the time in words. Yes, it’s probably pointless but, at same token, is quite a talking point.

 On the safety list, you’ll find six airbags, the usual ABS and stability controls, forward auto emergency braking, steering and lane control assistant, lane-keep assist, lane departure warning, lane change warning, forward and rear cross-traffic alert, crossroads warning and evasion assistant. All the same good gear that helped the 4-Series get five stars in 2019. However, the electric rework was so extensive the i4 needed to undergo the same test; and it achieved four stars from the independent regime last July, the body raising some dissatisfaction with the car’s electronic safety features. It was satisfied by the occupant protection, however.

Both i4s feature the same 84kWh (81kWh of usable capacity) battery. AC charging from the three-pin adapter is slow and tedious; you’d have to set aside the best part of two days to charge the car from dead to full. That option wasn’t a goer for the test car even if I’d wanted it to be. By accident or intent, the charging cable required for home replenishment was absent from this car. I relied on 50kWh public chargers. 

That assuredly didn’t dull the experience; public charging is obviously costlier than using your own power, but it’s a lot faster, and that works for me, because the less down time on the plug, the more opportunity to drive.

And that’s where the i4 really shines: As a driver’s car. To point where it basically sidesteps what’s commonly a criticism – an overall inability to look much like an electric car.

Basically, if you don’t spot the badges and aren’t enough of a car nerd to understand that another signature of BMW EVs is their bespoke wheel styling, the i4 stands high chance of being mis-identified as the petrol model from which it is derived. That very thing happened while I had it; a guy who was passing was intrigued why an ‘M4’ was parked up in a ChargeNet bay.

It’s true that recognition value is important for electrics. It works for the iX; as much as it has a similar-ish silhouette and dimension to an X5, it won’t be mistaken for one. And there’s never been anything else in BMW-dom remotely like the i3.

For all that, I’d be quite happy if the i4 was considered the ‘electric 4-Series’. BMW has a rich heritage of cars that are brilliantly rewarding to drive and while there are trade-offs here, also come pluses.

BMW’s single greatest achievement with the i4 is how it drives: despite weighing in at over two tonnes, it certainly stands out for being a very good driver-centric electric car.

 As much as some natural agility and litheness trades off and the steering isn’t quite the same, it has a fantastic rear-drive feel, is reassuringly planted and, of course, is blazingly fast when you want it to be. The immediacy of its punch when all systems are set to full-out sportiness will astound – it’s more rabid under kickdown than even the M4.

It does so much of this with impressive refinement, though that’s not to say it is absolutely quiet about it. Emotional connect is important for this brand, all the moreso when an ‘M’ badge is involved.

The issue of electrics being no-where near noisy enough when road storming is one Munich has tried to answer with a synthesised growl that is the result of a collaboration with celebrated film score composer Hans Zimmer.

The end result is a tone about which you can expect to hear a lot of opinion. It is certainly not a replication of a combustion engine note and is probably not the best attribute, though neither is it outright irksome. You can live with it, and should, given that this a product that otherwise sets an impressively high standard.