The 2024 BMW i4 xDrive40 Is A Fantastic EV Winter Roadtripper

When it comes to electric vehicle (EV) public charging, I consider myself rather blessed to be living in the province of Quebec. Arguably one of the most underrated public charging grids in North America, Quebec’s well-maintained and incredibly reliable Electric Circuit public service offers more than 5,000 chargers scattered across the province; 800 of those being level 3, fast-charging units.

Such an overabundance of charging infrastructure has had me really enjoying driving and reviewing EVs for my job. Also, each time I read a U.S.-written story about problematic charging infrastructure, it reminds me of how lucky I am to be living in a part of the world where our government is actually doing something to encourage EV ownership.

But this public charging comfort zone has also gotten me used to the convenience of it all, so much so, that when I set out for a drive to Toronto for the Canadian International Auto Show in the 2024 BMW i4 xDrive40 from my hometown of Magog, I never once questioned how I’d charge the car on my way there.

I figured that highway 401, the 6-hour-long, painstakingly boring stretch of highway between Montreal and Toronto, would serve me well if my battery ran flat. Turns out the province of Ontario still has a lot of work to do on charging infrastructure to make the experience feel seamless. The BMW i4, on the other hand, was a fantastic companion during the process. It proved that the challenges we’re currently facing with the EV transition generally don’t come from the cars themselves, but rather from lagging infrastructure.

The i4 xDrive40 picture here is a press unit that belongs to BMW Canada’s media relations department. The car was delivered at an 80% charge. I assumed all energy bills during my week with the car. For detailed insight into testing procedures and data collection, please review our
methodology policy
.

2024 BMW i4 xDrive40 First Impressions

This isn’t the first time I have gotten the chance to spend some seat time behind the wheel of the BMW i4. I originally drove the high-performance, M3-rivaling M50 model when it came out two years ago. The i4 is a car I like a lot, so much so, that the M50 was among the first EVs to really convince me that electric cars can in fact be just as fun and driver-focused as their gasoline ancestors.

Not everyone is yet at peace with BMW’s gigantic schnoze grille, but I must say that for the i4, the overall design direction is growing on me. It also totally makes sense in a world where front grilles basically have no more purpose. If you’re a carmaker with a century-old legacy behind its name, you might as well remind everyone who you are. Also, for those complaining about the gargantuan kidney, may I remind you that some of the BMW’s greatest cars wore a big grille as well.

I’ll add that thanks to the absolutely gorgeous Sanremo green paint my test unit was wearing, complete with the contrasting Cognac leather interior, the i4 looked properly classy, further enforcing BMW’s image of understated luxury.

Exterior Dimensions

Driving Impressions And Performance

Back to my winter adventure to Toronto. For me, the drive is a 400-mile trek, all of which is done at highway speeds, where EVs consume the most energy. I’ll get back to range and energy consumption specifics later.

On my way there, the climate was rather mild, with a comfortable 41 degrees in early February. This is unusually warm for that time of the year in Eastern Canada. Normally, February remains one of our coldest months, staying well below the freezing point up until March. Sadly, climate change had other plans for us this year.

My drive towards Toronto was frankly non-dramatic. I pulled over to charge twice, the first time about 125 miles later at the last Electric Circuit fast charger I could connect to before crossing over to Ontario. Since I know this network very well, and have a membership through its user-friendly mobile app, I figured it would be convenient to get a good charge before entering the unknown.

A 100-kW unit returned a steady 70-kW charging average, and 40 minutes later, or about the time it took me to grab dinner and have a quick phone chat with my dad, I was back on the road with an 80% charge.

My second charging session happened just a little over 125 miles before arriving in Toronto. What I discovered is that almost all OnRoute pit stops along highway 401 – essentially large resting areas offering a variety of different services – are equipped with level 3 fast charging units, provided by the privately owned Ivy charging network. Same story here: I plugged the car into a 100-kW charger, and about 45 minutes later, I was back at highway cruising speeds.

The return home, however, was not as smooth. When I left Toronto at 3 pm, a light snowstorm was on approach, leading to gridlock in the downtown area. It took me a solid two hours to get out of metro Toronto and back onto highway 401. As I marched forward, the storm got considerably worse, transforming the road into a highway to hell due to slow-moving traffic, semi-trailers after semi-trailers, and problematic vision due to the thick snow sticking to the car’s front end, covering the headlights and forcing me to periodically pull over to clean them off.

Also, since EVs don’t generate as much heat as cars equipped with an internal combustion engine (ICE), that snow had transformed into a massive lump of concentrated ice on the car’s front fascia, dramatically affecting the car’s aerodynamics and its range. This all forced me to add a third, quick 10-min charge session to my run in order to get home.

Under normal conditions, that trip would take me six and a half hours. But due to the bad weather and charging times, it became a grueling 12-hour ordeal. It’s also worth underlying that all the Ivy and Electric Circuit fast chargers that were at my disposal during that trip were limited to 100 kW. Furthermore, at each stop, at least one of the four available on the Ontario side was defective. The BMW i4 xDrive40 can accept up to 200 kW of charging power. Had a compatible charging infrastructure been at my disposal, I would have been back on the road a lot quicker.

That all being said, the BMW i4 did really well in such conditions. As a matter of fact, I felt lucky to be sitting inside this immensely comfortable Bavarian sedan, complete with incredible lumbar support and a bitchin’ sound system to calm me down during frustrating situations.

The i4 xDrive40, thanks to dual motor all-wheel drive, never had traction issues in these slippery conditions. I even allowed myself to overtake a few vans from the right lane due to my impatience.

Gunning the accelerator in the thick stuff only resulted in a consistent and stable forward jolt. It also helped that in this configuration, the i4 weighs more than 5,000 pounds (!!), so it was always well glued to the ground. Never did I lack confidence in that storm.

What’s interesting about the way the i4 was set up is that, contrary to several EVs on sale that lie on a dedicated, skateboard-style architecture, BMW rather utilizes a hybrid setup, in this case, its versatile Cluster Architecture (CLAR) which can underpin both ICE and EV technology.

This also happens to be the platform that supports the current 3 Series, the M3, and even the Toyota Supra. All of this means that when you drive the i4, it truly feels like you’re driving an electric 3 Series. There’s the expected rock-solid feel when driving over road imperfections, impeccably precise steering, great handling, and a general sense that the driver is what the engineers focused on when they were developing the car.

Performance Specifications

2024 BMW i4 xDrive40 Energy Consumption

Even if the i4 was connected to my home level 2 charger before taking off, and although I had warmed up its cabin remotely using the My BMW mobile app, I couldn’t escape the fact that ambient temperatures were hanging close to the freezing point. EVs will always display lower-range figures in such conditions. So when I set off for Toronto, my fully charged BMW i4 told me it had 215 miles of available range, a significant drop from the advertised 279 miles.

On the way there, energy consumption was not too far off BMW’s claims. I managed to record a steady 100 MPGe at an average cruising speed of 73 MPH. On the return home, however, due to dropping temperatures, slippery roads, and that large ice shield hindering my drag coefficient, the i4 was consuming its electricity at the rate of 74.8 MPGe.

At the end of my week with the car, I ended up averaging 80.5 MPGe, a significant drop versus the EPA’s official claims. The good news, however, is that the entire trip cost me less than $100.00 CAD (or $74.00 USD) in energy bills.

Interior Design And Comfort

Again, thanks to that CLAR platform, the BMW i4’s interior is all rather familiar, literally looking and feeling like you’re sitting inside a 3 Series. I kid you not, when I picked this car up from the BMW press office, I wondered for a second why it made no sound after turning it on. That’s how much the car feels like any other gasoline-powered BMW.

In the carmaker’s expected fashion, the i4 is a wonderful place to spend some time. Unsurprisingly, fit and finish and general build quality are up there among the best in the industry. The contrasting black and tan surfaces of my tester really helped this cabin look rich and expensive. BMW ergonomics have never disappointed, and the i4 continues in that direction by being incredibly easy to operate. Everything is where it should be.

While comfortable, however, the i4 is also rather cramped inside, especially if you’re over six-feet tall. The driver’s seat feels narrow, while rear legroom is essentially non-existent if someone tall is sitting up front. If you plan on using a BMW i4 as a family sedan, I must warn you that it’s a tight fit.

Interior Dimensions

Technology And Ease Of Use

Historically, BMW’s iDrive infotainment system has been the textbook definition of what a good infotainment system should be. Using a combination of on-screen touch controls and a console-mounted knob dial, the system is known for being quick to react, easy to comprehend, and never distracting or cumbersome.

However, in an attempt to keep up with current technology trends and by adding even more features, this latest version feels a tad more cluttered and complicated than its predecessors. Some simple features, like climate control and lane-keep assist, require cycling through the system. Tiny icons on the home screen did at times have me scratching my head as to what was doing what, also distracting me from the act of driving.

BMW encourages the use of voice-operated controls for simple stuff like climate control. It’s all operable through the “Hey BMW” voice prompt. And to its defense, it does work as intended, but only when it wants to. While I’ve noticed some improvements in the system since the first iterations, these voice commands get easily set off by ambient noises or a thick French-Canadian accent like yours truly.

At the end of the day, what you want to turn on heated seats is a physical button. Not a digital slider, nor a voice-recognition system that fails half the time. All in all, though, BMW’s iDrive remains a good system. It does a better job than many competing interfaces currently on sale.

Cargo And Storage Space

The BMW i4 may be tight inside, but its cargo space isn’t. Thanks to a sportback configuration, its trunk ends up being rather large. While the default cargo space is a tad behind its main competitor, the Polestar 2 (14.3 cu-ft), it makes up for it when you lower that rear seat flat to the floor. Check out the official numbers in the table below.

How The 2024 BMW i4 xDrive40 Compares To Its Competition

With the i4, BMW is tapping right into Tesla Model 3 territory. From a technical standpoint, it’s essentially in the crosshairs of the Model 3 dual motor all-wheel drive variant. But since this BMW is a premium product, I believe it makes more sense to compare it, rather, to other compact luxury electric sedans. In that respect, its only real competitor for the time being is the Polestar 2 Dual Motor, but without the optional Performance package.

2024 BMW i4 xDrive40 vs 2024 Polestar 2 Dual Motor

On paper, these are very similar cars. We’ve established that in terms of cargo capacity, they’re almost neck-to-neck. However, the Polestar 2 does come with the added benefit of having a frunk, which gives it a light advantage in that respect. It’s the same story inside, where both cars are known for having rather cramped interiors and limited rear legroom.

When it comes to the output of their dual electric motors, the Polestar 2 has a slight advantage thanks to more combined horsepower and torque; 421 hp and 546 lb-ft versus 396 hp 443 lb-ft in the BMW. Interestingly enough, this doesn’t allow the Polestar 2 to be quicker car off the line. The BMW i4 xDrive40 is actually 0.1 seconds faster than its main Scandinavian-inspired competitor.

Range for both cars is basically identical, but the BMW has a higher fast-charging rate; 200 kW versus 155 kW for the Polestar. However, both cars come with the same 11-kW onboard charger for level 2 home charging. Finally, and surprisingly, the BMW kicks off at a lower price point than the Polestar 2; $61 600 versus $66,600. However, BMW’s expensive optional packages do quickly inflate the i4 xDrive40’s price tag. My tester had a $71,125 stricker price.

The BMW i4 Is One Of The Most Accomplished Electric Luxury Sedans Currently On Sale

The thing is, the 2024 BMW i4 xDrive40 is a downright better car than the Polestar 2 Dual Motor, which is what I wrote in the review of that car. With its compact electric luxury sedan, not only does the Bavarian Motor Works company prove that it has what it takes to compete in the electric era, it makes sure to safeguard its reputation as the Ultimate Driving Machine in the process.

In other words, the i4 is an EV only BMW could have conceptualized. In my opinion, it’s up there among the best small electric sedans currently on sale. As for the state of things for public charging in the US and Canada, governments really need to start stepping up so that infrastructure keeps up with the products that are being put at the disposal of consumers.