Electro-gran

AHOY, electric vehicle enthusiasts! BMW Philippines recently revealed the latest addition to its local vehicle lineup: the BMW i4 eDrive35. Convincingly priced at P4.49 million inclusive of a five-year comprehensive BMW warranty, a six-year BMW service-inclusive package, and an eight-year high-voltage battery warranty, this all-electric, 286hp, four-door gran coupe is definitely an attractive, new product to consider in the premium sedan segment.

As one of its highlights, the new BMW i4 eDrive35 is the first BMW model available in the Philippines that comes equipped with BMW Connected Drive. This feature allows its users to fully exploit the (downloadable) MyBMW App, which enables its users to remotely control certain vehicle functions and access the car’s vital vehicle information through a smartphone.

BMW Philippines President Spencer Yu was keen to emphasize that it is the vision of SMC Asia Car Distributors Corp. — the official importer and distributor of BMW vehicles here — to have the brand offer the biggest selection of premium electric vehicles in the country. The i4 eDrive35 is its fourth battery electric vehicle model.

Said to be bestowed with good driving dynamics, renowned BMW handling, hallmark spaciousness, and a maximum battery range of 483km (per the WLTP cycle), this single-motor rear-wheel drive gran coupe is bound to paint smiles on many drivers’ faces — especially with its 400Nm of torque and ability to accelerate from zero to 100kph in six seconds.

It features fifth-generation, BMW eDrive technology, and also carries an adaptive recuperation system which recovers energy which would otherwise be lost during braking. This recovery system is intelligent because it learns from real-time driving data, and adjusts its system accordingly in order to achieve maximum efficiency in its recuperation in the first place. Moreover, the i4 eDrive35 highlights a high-voltage battery which uses the latest battery-cell technology. It has a built-in heating and cooling system which optimizes thermal management to get the most out of fast charging. The purchase of an i4 eDrive35 comes with a BMW Wallbox charger that will be installed by a company “i-partner” in the client’s home.

Furthermore, the i4 eDrive35 comes equipped with a cloud-based navigation system called “BMW Maps,” — which is not only dynamic in its computations, but is also able to consider route plans that include charging stops! It uses 5G data transmission, and is also capable of remote software upgrades. Automatic emergency calls are enabled for when there is an event such as a collision. Mind you, these connectivity benefits come fully purchased with the car, and are not dependent on subscriptions.

With other modern bells and whistles such as the ability to generate a digital car key, the availability of BMW’s intelligent personal assistant and its usual suite of safety features, the BMW i4 eDrive35 is certainly a car that is bound to have progressive car buyers giving it more than a passing look.