BMW has released several teaser images that were taken while the i7 was being put through its paces
Several teaser images of the upcoming pure-electric BMW i7, taken during the luxury electric sedan’s testing regime, have been officially revealed.
It looks as if the German carmaker was tired of seeing low-resolution images of its cars, taken (by random petrol heads) when they were being tested out in the real world, circulating on the internet and decided to put a stop to it.
This fully camouflaged development mule has the traditional luxury sedan silhouette. The long bonnet, raked windscreens and long wheelbase are all present and correct.
Featuring a pair of low-set headlamps that flank what seems to be a blanked version of the brand’s ever-growing kidney grille (the actual air intake sits below), the car has mirror caps seen aplenty on BMW’s M cars.
It also has a glass roof which has become a must on every premium and luxury vehicle these days, large multi-spoke wheels, fairly decent-sized windows, a large boot lid and a rear bumper with vents.
Billed as the “world’s only purely electrically powered luxury sedan”, the i7 has entered the final phase of its development cycle. BMW says the car has been tested on gruelling test tracks around the world.
The carmaker claims the i7’s high-voltage battery, electric motors, and the fifth-generation BMW eDrive system (developed for the car) have all been exposed to maximum stress to see how reliable and high-performing they are under maximum load.
BMW claims that the i7’s testing programme, which covers tens of thousands of kilometres, also involves analysing the battery management and power electronics.
For this, the i7 prototypes have been driven downhill with a fully charged battery, meaning the electronic system’s ability to dispense of energy that can no longer be recuperated was properly examined.
Although BMW has not revealed anything about the car’s powertrain, only stating that the i7’s power consumption will be 19.5-22.5 kWh/100 km (WLTP), reports have suggested that it could come with a 120 kWh battery pack, up to 700 km range and a top-spec model with 3 electric motors making 552 kW (740 BHP).
While the BMW i7 teaser images have been released now, the electric luxury sedan will make its debut next year together with other variants of the new 7-Series.