The i4 eDrive40 does well in the row most people actually care about. Its 525 km of observed real-world range is second only to the Tesla Model 3 Long Range, and ahead of every car here with a larger battery or a much higher WLTP claim. It gets there through a large pack, a genuinely efficient single rear motor and a body that was designed as a conventional saloon rather than an aerodynamic statement.
Range instead of charging speed
205 kW peak and twenty-eight minutes from 10 to 80 percent is ordinary. The i4’s answer to fast charging is not needing it as often: on a 600 km journey it plausibly stops once where a shorter-range car stops twice, which cancels out a good deal of the Ioniq 6’s charging advantage.
The catch
It is expensive for what it is — €60,600, several thousand more than the ID.7 or the Seal — and the i4 is built on a platform shared with the petrol 4 Series, which costs it boot space and rear headroom compared to purpose-built electric saloons. If you value the way a BMW drives, that is a reasonable trade. If you do not, the ID.7 gives you more room for less money.
Charging time and running cost for the BMW i4 eDrive40 are worked out in full on its own page. It works the numbers through at every charger power, with the tariff and efficiency assumptions printed rather than assumed: BMW i4 eDrive40 charging time and cost.
Frequently asked questions
How far does the BMW i4 eDrive40 really go on a charge?
The BMW i4 eDrive40 covers about 525 km in independently observed mixed driving, 613 km on the WLTP cycle, 333 miles on the EPA cycle. That observed figure is about 86 per cent of the WLTP claim — a shortfall is normal for every electric car, and what matters is that this one is predictable rather than that it exists. We rank the size of that gap across the database on claimed vs real range.
How long does the BMW i4 eDrive40 take to charge?
From 10 to 80 per cent on a DC rapid charger it takes about 28 minutes, peaking at 205 kW. That puts it mid-pack among the 18 cars we hold charging data for. On AC at home it accepts up to 11 kW. The peak figure on its own tells you very little — this ranking explains why the window is the honest measure.
How long will the BMW i4 eDrive40’s battery last?
The battery is warranted for 8 years or 100,000 miles, with replacement if capacity falls below 70 per cent. Our projection puts it at roughly 84 per cent of original capacity after eight years. That is an estimate, not a measurement: nobody publishes per-model degradation data, so it applies the published rate for this vehicle class and is labelled as an estimate everywhere it appears. The reasoning is set out in full on the methodology page, and we compare warranty terms across the database on best EV battery warranties.
Who should buy the BMW i4 eDrive40?
On our data it is one of the most efficient cars here at 155 Wh/km, which is what keeps the running cost down; among the longest-legged at about 525 km observed. Whether that suits you depends on how much of your charging happens at home and how often you drive beyond one charge — the running cost calculator takes your own mileage and tariff, and the comparison tool puts this car next to any other in the database.