The verdict: The words “performance” and “efficiency” aren’t often used together to describe a car, but the 2022 BMW i4 Gran Coupe delivers both. This compact electric car is fast, powerful and boasts an impressive all-electric range — if you equip it right.
Against the competition: The i4, especially in its M50 trim, is among the fastest compact EVs out there, but its tiny backseat is a pain, and it lacks some features of other small EVs, like a frunk.
The BMW i4 is all new for 2022, joining the new iX in BMW’s electric vehicle lineup. Unlike the iX and its out-there EV looks, the i4 is styled much more like a traditional car, with a coupelike body style and a familiar version of BMW’s signature grille.
With up to 301 miles of EV range, the i4 competes against the Tesla Model 3, which has an EPA-estimated range of 272 to 358 miles, depending on trim level. Because of the i4’s hatchback configuration, however, it also competes with the Tesla Model Y, which the EPA says can travel 244 to 330 miles, depending on configuration. See the models compared.
Related: Up Close With the 2022 BMW i4: Your Bavarian Tesla Model 3 Alternative Is Here
Power, Range Vary Vastly by Trim
I tested the sport-oriented M50 trim with 20-inch wheels, which sits at the top of the i4 lineup. It uses a dual-motor all-wheel-drive setup and is good for 536 horsepower and an all-electric range of 227 miles, according to the EPA. But wait: What happened to that 300-mile range?
A couple of things. First, this performance-oriented version of the i4 has more power than the base model, but much less range — a big bummer given it’s the only way to get an AWD i4. Base eDrive40 models have a single-motor rear-wheel-drive setup that makes 335 hp; it’s good for up to 301 miles of range. Wheel size is also a factor: The M50 I tested was equipped with 20-inch wheels, which look cool but cost you big in range. With 19-inch wheels, the M50 has a max range of 270 miles. In eDrive40 trim, the bigger wheels drop the car’s range from 301 to 282 miles.
The larger wheels also impact ride quality, which is on the firm side — especially around town, where potholes and pavement issues abound. Thankfully, the i4’s standard adaptive suspension helps dampen the rough stuff, so it was never uncomfortable. The i4 overall is composed and stable with sharp handling, but it’s not as nimble as other compact BMWs thanks to added EV poundage. The M50 is 26% heavier than a BMW M340 with AWD: 5,018 pounds versus 3,968 pounds.
The i4’s nearly instant power is pin-you-in-your-seat strong from a stop, which makes it a hoot on the highway; blasting off from toll booths never got old. Effortless speed pours on with a tap of the throttle, making for exhilarating merging and passing. Selecting the car’s Sport mode sharpens throttle response and firms up the steering, and it also unlocks a boost mode that can add 67 hp and 48 pound-feet of torque for roughly 10 seconds, achieving that 536 hp figure.
All that power, however, is not as much fun around town. City driving is not the M50’s favorite thing, and reining it in on urban streets was a challenge. Part of the issue is the regenerative braking system, which is touchy and can be tough to get used to. Until I got the hang of modulating the pedal, my passengers complained of lurching starts and abrupt deceleration as soon as I removed my foot from the accelerator. These characteristics are adjustable, but it took some playing around to find my (and their) comfort zone.
Popping the i4 into a B mode on the gear selector allows for one-pedal driving, which can slow the car to a complete stop without touching the brake pedal. Here again, the brakes have an abrupt, severe feeling — but it’s also the setting that saves the most energy, so it’s worth getting used to. Case in point: After leaving home with a 100% charge, I noticed range being added to the gauge after driving in B mode for several miles around town. I started one trip with a full battery and 227 miles of range on the gauge; after driving 119.1 miles, the car said I had a 45% battery charge and a remaining range of 111 miles — slightly over the 227-mile total range estimate.
That said, while the car’s range estimate and gauge were pretty accurate during my test, other editors noticed some inconsistencies. On a shorter trip, Managing Editor Joe Bruzek noticed more fluidity in the predicted range. After driving 35 miles in bumper-to-bumper traffic in one-pedal driving mode, he observed the predicted range decrease only 2 miles, going from 185 miles of range at 100% charge to 183 miles of range at 85%. Bruzek said that even though it was nice the i4 was optimistic about its range, most cars decrease closer to 1:1 (predicted range versus actual miles traveled); not having more accurate range info at the beginning of the trip isn’t very helpful.
BMW says there are a lot of variables that can affect range, including previous driving history, climate control usage, outdoor temperature and driving style. The automaker also told us that entering a destination into the native navigation system would help increase range accuracy.
The EPA says the base i4 uses 30.9 kilowatt-hours of energy to travel 100 miles, making it respectably efficient in terms of energy usage, though the M50 trim does use more energy. The i4 falls short of the most efficient EV from the 2022 model year, however: The rear-drive Tesla Model 3 uses 25 kilowatt-hours per 100 miles.
Charge times also proved accurate for me. Using a Level 2 charger, BMW says the i4 goes from an empty battery to 100% charged in around 7.5 hours, with a charge rate of up to 11 kilowatts.
Solid Infotainment
There’s much to like about the i4’s control interface — plus one thing that brings it down, but you don’t have to use it.
First, I’m a fan of all the screens. The huge center touchscreen flows seamlessly into the gauge cluster screen; it’s easy to reach, has crisp graphics and the menu setup is intuitive. The home screen is logically chunked into clear sections, and swiping reveals even more of them, like battery usage and charging data. Drivers can also create individual IDs that can be used to tailor settings and controls to specific users. Overall, I find the i4’s system a lot easier to use than Tesla’s confusing control setup.
I used Android Auto via the i4’s wireless connection, and the experience was seamless. The AA interface makes use of the whole width of the screen — unlike some other cars, which only display the AA interface on part of the screen, wasting the space next to it. A head-up display ahead of the gauge cluster also works well with the interface. It’s configurable to show car data, like your next direction, when using AA; the information is handy and the screen is discrete and unobtrusive.
What is obtrusive, however, is the center console rotary controller, which will look familiar if you’ve been in a BMW before; it’s been an infotainment system constant for years. It can be used to control everything the touchscreen does, but to me, it’s not comfortable to use, pulling focus from the road. Thankfully, it’s redundant because you can choose to use the touchscreen for everything instead.
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A Lack of Space
Overall, the i4 is a bit longer than a Tesla Model Y, but the Model Y has a bigger backseat, with a few more inches of headroom and legroom. The i4 is another few inches longer than the Model 3, but even the Model 3 has a bigger backseat. The i4’s backseat technically seats three, but it’s very tight back there for anyone adult-sized; the middle spot is best avoided. It’s narrow and sits above a pretty intrusive floor hump.
Kids in car seats don’t have it much better. While there are accessible lower Latch anchors for easy car-seat installation, space is still a big issue. I struggled to fit a rear-facing infant seat back there, and once it was in, it severely impacted front passenger legroom. My twins are in booster seats, and those fit better once I removed the head restraints to situate them flush against the seatback. To do that, however, I needed to poke a key into a tiny hole to disengage the restraint before I could pull it up and out — not the easiest setup. Also, the buckles are on stubby stalks, so they were tough for my kids to find and use without help. Read the full BMW i4 Car Seat Check for more information.
The trunk is roomy enough, but once again competitors offer more. BMW calls the i4 a “Gran Coupe,” but all that really means is that it has a sloping rear roofline and hatchback-style cargo opening. The roofline makes it pretty tough to see out the back, but the hatchback does make for decent cargo space. The cargo opening is tall and wide, and there’s a lot of usable room. By the manufacturer’s numbers, the i4 has just 10 cubic feet of space in the trunk versus the Model 3’s 19.8 cubic feet, though it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison: Measuring methodology often differs between a sedan’s enclosed trunk and a hatchback’s open cargo area.
Still, the i4 pales in comparison to the base Model Y’s 30.2 cubic feet of space behind the backseat, a number more comparable to the BMW iX. And unlike many other electric cars, the i4 lacks a front trunk (frunk) space. The Model 3 and Model Y both have frunks, which I find useful.
Safety and Value
The 2022 i4 is competitively priced. A base i4 eDrive40 starts around $56,000, while the M50 is around $10,000 more. A base Tesla Model 3 starts around $49,000, while a base Model Y starts around $69,000. A more affordable base i4, the i4 eDrive35, will join the lineup in 2023 and start around $52,000 with an estimated range of 260 miles.
The i4 comes with a suite of active-safety features, including forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking and pedestrian and cyclist detection. Semi-autonomous features, like a self-parking system and active cruise control with stop, are optional.
The 2022 BMW i4 excels as a polished, powerful and efficient highway cruiser — just make sure you choose your trim level wisely.
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