BMW i4 M50 a steed on the road but a donkey at the charger

Just the other day I was having a laugh at my Gen Z (Zoomer) daughter who had never used an actual key to start a car and thought this dumb piece of metal sticking out the key fob was a medieval torture device.

I was once again exposed to the Zoomer mindset last month when she got to spend some time with the BMW i4 M50.

The BMW i4 M50 is basically a four-door gran coupe powered by a pair of potent electric motors, one on the front axle and one the rear axle, that combine to provide for very brisk transportation and a strong hint of M Sport performance agility.

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With 400 kW of power and 795 Nm of torque being driven down to all four wheels, I had to give the car a run at our Gerotek test facility to see exactly how fast is fast.

In typical BMW fashion, where some will argue that they offer choice, and others will say they over complicate matters, you can choose from various drive modes like Eco, Comfort, Sport and Sport Boost.

Using Launch Control, yes, this electric car has launch control, and you would think you don’t need it since everything happens instantly anyway, but BMW offers it and using it to build some charge in combination with Sport Boost that keeps the maximum power coming, instant becomes even more so with the i4 M50.

BMW i4 M50 lightning fast

The sought after 0 to 100 km/h time comes up in 3.81 seconds, which is a touch better than the claimed 3.9 seconds, while 200 km/h comes up in a mere 12.82 seconds. Not too bad for a car that weighs in at 2.2 tons.

The quarter mile is done in a quick 11.93 seconds at 194 km/h, while the i4 M50 hits its 225 km/h electronic speed limiter before 1km of tar is covered.

As expected, it is fast in a straight line, but it wears an M Sport badge and that means it can get around corners pretty well too thanks to an adaptive M suspension with bespoke tuning, variable sport steering, M Sport brakes and 19-inch M light-alloy wheels with mixed-size tyres.

Near-actuator wheel slip limitation optimises traction and directional stability. This extremely fast-acting and precise system teams up with electric all-wheel drive for the first time.

This means the drive torque control for both motors reacts notably faster and with far greater accuracy than would be possible with a transfer case positioned between the axles.

And to remind you that you are driving a sporty electric car where absolute silence cannot be the only soundtrack available to the occupants, the BMW i4 M50 offers mode-controlled drive sounds to keep you entertained. Not ideal, but this is the world of electric cars. Get used to it.

Cheaper to ‘fill’

By now the big questions again are, how much electricity does it use and what is the range? Well, the “tank” takes 84 kWh of electricity to fill, and although a range of 510 km is claimed, I got around 340 km in everyday driving with the aircon on.

You can certainly get better, depending on your driving style and how much of the battery’s charge you steal for things like the aircon, that’s why I mentioned it.

For what it is worth, the basic figures come in at R3 per kWh of electricity if I charge the i4 M50 at my house. This means it costs me R250 to fill the “tank” and this gets me 340 km of range.

Putting that into perspective, R250 will get you around 10 litres of petrol, and 10 litres of petrol in a M340i will only get you about 100 km of range.

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I have always defended the “electric cars won’t work because we have Eskom and load shedding” narrative, because treat your electric car like a cell phone and charge it when it is standing overnight or at the office if equipped with charging facilities, and you will never need to worry about range. And the saving is still a no brainer, even if it is double the price at a commercial fast charger.

But lately, as this SOE continues to add stages to their inability to keep the lights on and there are some inconveniences like the just mentioned cost and none more so than wasted time.

Conclusion

My Zoomer kid loved the BMW i40 M50, right up till the part she realised that she had to spend almost two hours waiting for it to charge.

She came home and said to me to take this thing back and let her know when they have figured out a way to charge them faster.

This for me is going to be the biggest challenge facing electric vehicle manufacturers going forward, fast charging, because while right now it seems like only patient rich old people buy their cars. It’s this next generation that will want instant gratification or they will walk past your product.

To download The Citizen’s full test data sheet, click on the link below.

For more information on the BMW i4 M50, visit the manufacturer’s website.