So much of the conversation about EVs isn't about EVs. We owe much of this to Elon and identity politics, of course, but even with the political shellac stripped back, we rarely talk about EVs in the context of "normal" automobiles.
The automakers are partly to blame.
In a desperate bid to separate their EV lineup from "traditional" vehicles, most automakers divert from established norms. For example, Mercedes won’t simply sell you an EV that looks, feels, and drives like an E-Class. Instead, it builds the awful EQE.
It’s a Mercedes sculpted by painfully generic "aero" body lines, wrapped around a dysfunctional interior. The EQE is an astonishingly fast vehicle that’s less joyful to ride than your dentist’s chair.
This is nearly an industry-wide phenomenon. Automakers think that because EVs use a fundamentally different means of propulsion that customers expect a fundamentally different driving experience.
What if, however, a company took its most-beloved model and did something different, preserving or even enhancing its road manners?
Take BMW. What if it built a normal 3 Series sedan that happened to have some batteries in the floor? How would it drive? How would it function?
Excellently, in fact.
| Quick Specs | 2024 BMW i4 eDrive35 Gran Coupe |
| Battery | 68.7 Kilowatt-Hours |
| Output | 282 Horsepower / 295 Pound-Feet |
| 0-60 MPH | 5.8 Seconds (Est.) |
| EV Range | 252 Miles |
| Base Price / As Tested | $52,200 / $64,920 |
BMW calls this mid-size EV sedan the *deep breath* 2024 BMW i4 eDrive35 Gran Coupe. Effectively, it’s a classic 3 Series sedan with a liftback, saddled by some clunky nomenclature.
That’s where the bad news ends. Once you hurdle the awkward naming conventions, you’ll find BMW has adhered to its older, better conventions.
Like every single 3 Series, the i4 GC looks great, drives pleasantly, and folds into daily life like it was borne into your own garage. During a week with the i4 Gran Coupe, I ran errands, suffered traffic, chased one sunset down a mountain backroad, and generally just lived with the car. The i4 didn’t misstep even once.
This is a great sedan, period. And even a great-looking one.
Pros: Quiet, Comfy, Quick
Despite riding on an EV “skateboard,” with batteries lining its belly, the i4 GC sticks with BMW’s classic sedan proportions. That means a long, low hood, with tight angles where they should be and swooping sections covering everything else. I still don’t love the gigantic buck-tooth grille, but painted in a dazzling silver called Dravit Grey Metallic ($1,500), the i4’s side profile and rear-three-quarter angles look spectacular (note the vehicle pictured here is the i4 edrive40 trim, slightly different to our hero car, but equally spectacular). None of this car’s proportions hint at electric propulsion.
Especially the smartly appointed interior, which offers ample headroom, a large and usable trunk (aided by that hatchback glass), and just enough luxury and technology to show its driver where that lease payment is going every month.
Instead of visual gimmicks, BMW’s design department simply penned a nice-looking sedan from every angle, inside and out, and threw it to the engineering department to do the rest.
Beneath that finely tailored exterior, an 81.5-kilowatt lithium-ion battery pack powers a single rear motor producing 282 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, all sent to the rear wheels.
This slug of power and the i4’s low-drag body amount to a combined 110 MPGe over a projected range of 252 miles. Over the course of my week in the i4, I used maybe a “half tank” of electrons. Never did I suffer range anxiety, though super commuters may get squeamish.
These are not industry-leading numbers for range or efficiency, but they were sufficient for my family’s needs. A simple nightly recharge would cover 95 percent of driving scenarios, and I suspect fit neatly into the lives of many suburban families shopping for a BMW sedan.
If you don’t have the ability to charge this BMW in your garage overnight (a convenience that’s probably not considered enough), you’re better served by a gas-powered Bimmer.
BMW claims 5.8 seconds to 60 miles per hour, but from a few hard pulls up to interstate speeds, I’d say that figure’s pessimistic by a huge chunk. My old M3 hit 60 in about 5.5 seconds and this i4 would leave it for dead. From a dig, or on a highway pull, i4 will rip right up to its 118 mph top speed in moments.
Cons: Range, EV Infrastructure, Ugly Grille
Rather than beat you over the head with its EV-ness during those hard accelerations, BMW plays just a scooch of simulated powertrain noise over the i4 GC’s interior speakers. It’s one of the few pure EV gimmicks you’ll find here and the car can be spec’d without it. The sound is so subtle I preferred to keep it on, if only to pair some audio feedback with the snap of EV acceleration.
This BMW’s EV powertrain offers a traditional two-pedal driving routine, along with one-pedal driving as well. The latter option felt crisp and well-calibrated, with a snappy transition to braking when the go-fast pedal is released. The one-pedal system feels especially crisp but never distracting with the i4’s drive mode selector set to “Sport.”
I prefer the pedal sensitivity, steering weight, and suspension response of Sport. While I wish the Sport damping curve felt a bit more lax, you can imagine the amount of spring rate BMW had to throw at a vehicle this heavy to make it feel responsive, and the damping required to rein in this EV’s rebounding body.
Still, Sport offers the most-responsive calibration of each major chassis and powertrain system, livening the i4 GC from relaxed conveyance into a true Sport Sedan.
With a base price of $52,200, this eDrive35 trim offers the best value among the i4 range. It’s plenty quick for daily driving and backroad hustling, quick enough that I wouldn’t be tempted by more-expensive trims.
The M Sport package ($3100) feels like a must-have, owing to the adaptive suspension and gorgeous wheels, but I could leave everything else off the build sheet (though the Harman Kardon sound system would tempt me at $875, as would San Remo green paint ($650) and heated seats ($500)).
That places the i4 eDrive 35 squarely in competitive territory, pitted against ICE sedans, hybrids, and EVs alike. But none of them offer the goldilocks mix of this BMW.
Its gas-powered competitors are slower, less composed, and often have less badge equity. Hybrid cars doubly so. Other EVs will outpace this BMW for around $55,000, but none look as handsome and drive as nicely.
Lease deals on these cars keep getting sweeter. As a second vehicle to sit beside the gas-powered truck or SUV that already lives in your garage, it’s a deeply competitive offering from BMW.
In that way, this new BMW is a lot like the old BMWs we love so much. It blends form with function, backs up its good looks with amenities, and pairs quick reflexes to superb road manners.
The i4 eDrive 35 Gran Coupe is a great BMW sedan. It’s also an EV.
