For the first time, Dr Mike Civil gets to review a fully electric car, and now he feels one beckoning – when he finds room in his garage.
Well, this is a first for me. Having been someone who has ranted on and on about the aural delights of rumbling V8s or blow-off valves on high-performing turbo-boosted rally cars, it is time to go over to the dark (or should that be green) side.
One of the first (and potentially most important) impressions about the BMW i4, is that it does not yell at you “I’m an EV!” The ‘electric’ side of the i4 is very understated. It looks just like a normal BMW.
A closer look at the front grill will reveal many missing holes! Any hopes of aggressively designed exhausts will be dashed immediately. Nothing to see there! But as a whole package you would not pick this as an electric car.
The control features will be familiar to anyone who has driven a BMW. Yes, the touch screen is longer and larger than previous BMWs, but again it is somehow understated. There are touch screen controls, but there is still the reassuring dial-up control by our auto box gear lever. You still have familiar electric window controls, indicators, windscreen wipers, cruise control, etc.
Time to turn this novel experience on.
We have a few ‘bars’ of sound, not really sure how to describe them, and you know that things are now active. No need to wait for engine oils to warm and circulate, we are good to go.
As expected, it is all eerily quiet, we just glide away. At low speed this is particularly noticeable. Are we still switched on, or just rolling down the driveway? But yes, we are motorvating. Once the car is moving a little more rapidly, we have road noise and wind, but that is barely noticeable. Chatting to someone on a mobile phone while driving will not be taxing my aged hearing.
The car doesn’t feel heavy, it feels responsive and pin sharp. We have a choice of driving modes, as always in a BMW. We are still in “Comfort”, but we have the joys of “Sport” and the responsible “Economy.”
One immediate difference in this car over a petrol-driven sibling is the braking effect of the electric motors. When driving in ‘D’ on the auto box, the car will glide, if coasting off the accelerator, like a petrol version, but less than expected and this is especially noticeable at slower speeds.
It is not a concern, or problem, it is just a little different. If you shift the auto box over to ‘B’, this activates the energy charging effect that the electric motors give when breaking. I guess this is the equivalent of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) on Formula 1 cars. When in B (Battery), electric motor breaking is much more noticeable, but again, when familiar with it, it is not an issue and those batteries will last just that little bit longer.
Speaking of batteries, what is the range? Well, the helpful display tells me we have 500km available on this fully charged battery. I drove around all weekend and covered a fair number of kilometres and didn’t approach half charge. There are various different charging leads in the boot – one for household standard sockets, one for BMW charging units and there is a socket on the car for the fast-charging filling stations. I did have a go charging at home, but mainly to see what was involved. More of that later.
Back to the car. The driving experience, from a performance perspective, was excellent. Great ride, smooth, precise and confidence-inspiring.
Nothing out of the ordinary from a BMW, but, even in Comfort mode, the acceleration was very impressive, back up to speed limits in the blink of an eye. Move on to Sport, the touch screen dash develops its red-mist colour, and suddenly the performance jumps up a notch, speeding-fine territory rapidly becomes licence-losing territory. Not quite “to infinity and beyond” but very impressive acceleration, all the same.
Of course, Sport mode and a heavy right foot will see those batteries drain faster than Comfort or Economy mode, but nice to know that the all-important driving experience is still very positive. I just can’t get over the fact that this car looks like a normal BMW, certainly goes like a high-performing BMW, is as well-appointed as a normal BMW, but it gets its energy from the grid.
When back from the dizzy heights of great performance, it is time to plug her into the wall. When manoeuvring the BMW at home, there are a plethora of camera angles and mirrors to help you reverse.
Our new home has a narrow driveway, and our golden retriever is curious as to what Dad has just driven up in. The clever brain in the car will not allow me to run over our beautiful dog, fortunately! After the alarms say she has got too close, the car brakes!
Another ‘driver assist’ gadget was the step-up from old-fashioned cruise control. When going down the freeway on the way home, the fancy cruise control will not only manage your speed, but will also stop you drifting off course, and tail-gating the car in front is definitely off the agenda.
You only need to offer little input for the car to drive itself. The car (and my passenger) may get a little nervous if you take your hands off the steering wheel – the car just prompts you to put your hands back! I know self-drive cars will be common at some stage in the future, but hopefully by then I will have lost the ability to ‘enjoy the drive’ and won’t be bothered. For now, my interest in all things four-wheeled will always direct me to driver experience, not just the going from A to B.
Back to charging – obviously, I only have the car for the weekend, so no BMW charger gadget on the wall at home. I plug into the trusty wall socket. It takes a while (overnight) but charge she does.
We have recently had a large solar array installed at home and this is part of my interest in wanting to review a quality EV as I will be going down the electric car vehicle path at some stage. At present, I still have a few too many toys in the shed to justify an extra vehicle. But it isn’t going to be too long before I hang up the racing boots. An EV will beckon then.
Having been unimpressed with other manufacturers offerings in the EV space, I had been patiently waiting for the right car to come along. The technology has been well tested by others and range has come a long way (to excuse the pun). Now the latest tech is in a quality package and BMW still remembers the importance of driver experience.
Just in case you were wondering, my Evo 9 went a few months ago, after our run in Targa Tasmania. But there is still a classic 1970 Capri Perana and a Birkin Clubman sitting in the shed to tempt me out on a petrochemical dash.
But when one of those goes to its next owner, I know what will be taking its place and being plugged in – the BMW i4.