derBayerische January/February 2023 - 29

2 0 2 3 B M W i 4 G R A N C O U P E
nice vehicle, our range anxiety-
enhanced by a then lack of a robust
charging network-was mollified by a
" Range Extender " internal combustion
engine with a 2.5-gallon gas tank.
As expected, the " done nothing "
critics and " me like car, me drive fast "
buff book writers declared the aforementioned
electric vehicles to be market
failures. However, while those vehicles
were NOT sales successes, they did
successfully gather data for the longterm
BMW electric-product development
strategy.
Simply speaking, these products
gauged the size of the market to not only
determine ideal entry points, but also the
type of EV that was needed to succeed.
All this time, BMW made the internal
investment to modify their productdevelopment
process and assembly
methods to ensure product profitability.
This again followed a Steve Jobs mantra
and the Lutz Law of offering to the
market " crazy great, gotta have it "
products that make money.
BMW developed their now-famous
Cluster Architecture (CLAR) platform as
a car platform. It is a modular platform
that incorporates steel, aluminum, and
optional carbon fiber, allowing for lowercost
development of vehicles that use
rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive
setups. It is designed to accommodate
a pure internal combustion drivetrain,
48-volt mild-hybrid configuration,
plug-in hybrid, and electric-battery drivetrains.
The first production product
from this architecture was the 2015 7
Series. This, as well as the UKL
modular architecture for the BMW and
MINI front-wheel-drive and all-wheeldrive
models, are the reasons behind
BMW's new product proliferation.
The result is that the i4 Gran Coupe
is the same vehicle as the rest of the 4
Series product line, except that it runs
on an electric power/drive train and it's
" fueled " by a rechargeable 83.9 kWh
399 volt lithium-ion battery pack.
The charger port is located at the same
spot as the gasoline filler door.
The difference between the 40
model and the M50 is that the M50 has
dual electric motors (one over each axle,
producing 536 horsepower) and allJanuary
I February
■ (Above) There is no frunk!
wheel drive, while the i4 40 has a single
motor (which produces 335 horsepower)
at the rear axle and rear-wheel drive.
Unlike other EVs, the i4 Gran
Coupe has no " frunk. " Instead, the
large, fixed plastic cover that's under the
hood gives the illusion of a front engine.
Under that cover is a myriad of electronics
to support the sensor network that
even Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott
would admire.
Without range anxiety, driving an
EV is a blast. The instant acceleration
makes one feel as if they are driving
an F1 car. The instant deceleration that
occurs when one lifts off the power pedal
is initially strange. That deceleration is
the vehicle performing regenerative
braking, which increases the useful
driving range.
We've made no secret that we
■ (Above) Who needs an SAV?
really like the five door 4 Series Gran
Coupe. As with the previous evaluations
of the internal combustion engine
versions, the 4 Series Gran Coupe
proved its worthiness in urban,
suburban, rural, and open road driving.
The relatively small exterior made parallel
parking in the streets of San
Francisco a breeze. The large interior
comfortably accommodated four adults.
The rear seating area was large enough
for two teenage girls to unload their
backpacks to make themselves feel at
home.
The rear hatch and the large cargo
area were quite handy to accommodate
everyone's luggage, as well as the growing
number of bags from our frequent
shopping trips. The rear seats fold down
to accommodate most of the large, bulky
items one can purchase from the big box
warehouse stores.
The 4 Gran Coupe's low-and-wide
stance enhances the vehicle's sporty
profile, and the addition of the M Sport
package as well as the red brake calipers
exponentially increases the size of
its " Ultimate Driving Machine " aura.
The i4 Gran Coupe continues the BMW
tradition of offering " track ready, "
practical daily driver vehicles.
An obvious question is " how does
it compare to a Tesla. " It's a worthy
comparison-but keep in mind that the
Tesla design approach was to design a
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derBayerische January/February 2023

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