BMW's i7 EV Might Hit Dealerships by 2022

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【Summary】German luxury automaker BMW might launch its i7 EV by 2022 as an electrified version of the company's flagship 7-Series sedan.

Manish Kharinta Feb 11, 2019 10:45 AM PT

BMW's i7 EV Might Hit Dealerships by 2022

Rumors surrounding BMW developing an electric car under the moniker i7 have been circulating in the automotive industry for awhile. Recent reports suggest that the German automaker might launch the upcoming i7 electric vehicle by 2022.

Six years ago, BMW filed trademark applications for a range of model names all the way up to i9, including the i7. Last year, BMW was forced to renew the trademarked i7 name as the company was unable to launch it in the allotted timeframe.

Intel from Munich also suggests that the electric car will soon be production ready and will be introduced as a electrified version of BMW's flagship 7-Series sedan. BMW is working on launching the next generation of its 7-Series in 2022.

If the i7 is indeed built upon the standard 7-Series platform, it will come with sizeable dimensions for an electric car. A car of this size will require powerful electric motors along with a large array of batteries, which will increase the overall weight of the vehicle.

BMW also announced that it is working on developing more advanced, energy dense batteries for the i7. BMW refers to them as the fifth-generation battery pack, which has been designed to offer and retain a substantially higher level of overall power.

BMW i7 is also being designed with a special focus on its electric driving range to meet the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) pre-requisites. The company has been an active participant in Formula E racing, which has aided it in the development of track-proven, powerful and efficient electric motors.

A mashup of fifth-generation battery pack combined with efficient electric motor might give BMW an electric powertrain capable of achieving the 384-mile range target set by the new WLTP testing procedure.

In terms of the overall power output, it is expected that the electric powertrain in the i7 will produce around 650 HP, making it one of the most powerful production EVs to ever go on sale, surpassing the 518 HP rating of the Tesla Model S.

So far, there have been no other confirmed details about the upcoming electric vehicle. Therefore, it is likely that the i7 will undergo a series of modifications before it ever hits the road.