BMW revived its sub-brand “i” division in 2011—lengthy earlier than most individuals had even heard of Tesla—to design and make plug-in electrical automobiles. The launch automobiles had been the still-in-production i3 and the i8 sports activities automotive. It was an costly gamble, however even when BMW had not bought in extra of 240,000 models of those two automobiles worldwide—and by 2019 had greater than half a million group gross sales from the i division—it might have been value it only for the model worth conferred by staking its declare to electrical automobiles earlier than every other main producers did.
There have been quite a few fashions from the i division since these first two efforts—most not too long ago the 2021 iX—with various ranges of success in gross sales and in execution. But BMW i has till now left the world of the manager limo alone, permitting bitter rival Mercedes-Benz to beat it to the punch when it electrified its EQS.
Now, after years of expectation and certain greater than a little inside annoyance that Merc received there first, BMW has lastly unveiled a full EV model of its high-end 7 Series, the i7—and in distinction to the EQS, it seems to be like BMW has given the tech on this automotive severe consideration.
This is the primary BMW to boast the corporate’s Theater Screen system, first unveiled at CES again in January: an 8K, 31-inch, 32:9 ultra-wide show with Amazon Fire TV smarts that’s paired with a Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System. It additionally has nifty touchscreens akin to cell phones within the rear door armrests, referred to as Touch Command, with the show panels situated simply the place your hand would relaxation. But we’ll get to the inside quickly sufficient. Let’s begin with the specs.
Photograph: BMW
The launch EV model of the brand new 2022 7 Series would be the BMW i7 xDrive60, coming within the second half of this 12 months, with the 750e xDrive and M760e xDrive plug-in hybrid fashions following subsequent 12 months. Other all-electric variants will be part of the 7 Series lineup, BMW says, together with an i7 M70 xDrive flagship set to reach later in 2023 with an anticipated 660 hp.
