BMW yesterday held a virtual world premiere of the BMW Concept i4, following the cancellation of the Geneva International Motor Show due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

“Even though we couldn’t meet in Geneva, we felt that it was important to give everyone an update on “what’s new” at the BMW Group. And also, to pay tribute to the many people who have worked tirelessly on our new products and their presentation. And that’s why we are here, at the very heart of BMW Group Design, for the world premiere of a very special concept car,” said Oliver Zipse, chairman of  the Board of Management of BMW AG.

 “At the BMW Group, we believe in the power of choice and electro-mobility is an important part of that. That’s why we are launching many new electrified vehicles over the next few years.”

“More fully-electric vehicles will be coming next year, including the BMW iNEXT and the BMW i4. Today, we want to give you a glimpse of the BMW i4,” Zipse said.

This four-door BMW Gran Coupé is fully electric, with an electric range of up to 600 kilometres (372 miles), based on the new new Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) test cycle. Powered by BMW’s fifth-generation eDrive technology, it has a very slim battery with optimum energy density.

The development and production of the e-drive is done in-house, as well as the battery cell research. The e-drive offers a peak performance of up to 530 horsepower. In addition, BMW said it will not use any rare earths in the electric motor.

“All of this shows that we are fully committed to climate protection. I can assure you and our customers: We will fulfil the tough European CO2 regulations for 2020 and 2021. This year alone, we will reduce our European fleet target by around 20%,” he added.

To view the virtual premiere, click here: https://www.youtube.com/user/BMWGroupView.

This year, BMW will be launching the all-electric BMW iX3 – the company’s first pure electric Sports Activity vehicle – and the trailblazer for the all-new fifth generation BMW eDrive technology. BMW will also be launching further plug-in hybrids in 2020: the new BMW X1 plug-in hybrid, the BMW X2 and the electrified BMW 3 Series Touring.

Already, BMW has more than half a million BMW Group electrified vehicles on the road, which it intends to double by the end of next year.