For the first time an established company is bringing a beautiful and affordable EV sedan to the market and Tesla might just be shaking in their boots a little. The BMW i4 is on it's way in 2020 as a 2021 model and it has a ton of great reasons why buyers looking for a fun, fast, feature-full saloon might want to side with the boys from Bavaria. Why did it take them so long? This isn't a gimmick.

BMW has put a ton of heart and soul and sincerity into this new car. From research and development and tireless on the road testing they're sure to release a real live Tesla rival. Let's take a look at what makes it so special.

15 530 Horsepower

How about we start with the meat and potatoes so to speak. 530 horsepower is nothing to snub your nose at. With that kind of power, you can expect this BMW to put real fear into the heart of anyone lining up next to it at a light hoping to embarrass the little EV. It will be very quick off the line. How quick?

14 Zero To 62 Mph In Four Seconds Flat

You read that right. 4 seconds flat to 62 mph. That’s not as quick as a Tesla Model 3 performance but it’s more than a second quicker than a Ferrari 456. It’s also very likely going to outmaneuver the Model 3 in the bends thanks to BMWs wealth of knowledge about how to make a heavy saloon car handle well.

13 373 Miles On A Full Battery

I can hear all the doubters now. Porsche wasn’t anywhere close to their original estimate, surely BMW won’t be either. Well, there are some complex reasons why Porsche was so far off their mark and BMW has a history of being considerably more reliable about their mileage estimates. If this gets anywhere near its 373-mile estimate expect it to take a big chunk of Teslas sales.

12 150 KW Charging Capability

The skateboard architecture of the battery means great handling. In addition, the battery can charge at 150 kW per hour. That's so fast in fact that you can charge up to 80% of the battery in 35 minutes. Should you just need to splash and dash you’ll get 62 miles of range in 6 minutes. That’s good enough for almost all of our commutes.

11 Based On The 4 Series Gran Coupe But Taller Due To The Batteries

That skateboard battery pack does lead to a little extra height. The 4-Series gran coupe pictured above that is the basis for the i4 in many ways and is only slightly shorter than the electrified sedan. Thankfully buyers likely won’t notice any change in driving behavior thanks to that low center of gravity.

10 Two Electric Motors, All-Wheel-Drive, And Torque Vectoring

Here’s something we can all be excited about. All-Wheel drive adds versatility in cold snowy climates. Torque vectoring is kind of like a performance-enhancing drug for cars these days. Making a heavier vehicle behave better around hard corners becomes much easier with this kind of tech. So much so that it will surprise most anyone who might drive it at its limit.

9 The Warranty Is Great - Eight Years Or 100,000 Miles

The one thing we keep hearing about EVs from the internal combustion crowd is how pointless the car becomes as soon as the battery or some other electrical component fails. Honestly, it’s understandable to some degree, very few are qualified to work on vehicles like this. People are less familiar but BMW is here to put its customers at ease. Their 8 years or 100,000-mile warranty is a class leader. There’s nothing to fear, BMW is here.

8 Not Coming Till 2021

It’s still going to be a year away for us sadly. The car is heavily into the development phase as you can see from the spy shot above but there’s something most of us don’t think about. BMW owners aren’t nearly as likely to accept “Beta testing” flaws as a brand like Tesla and their faithful customers. That means they’re going to take all the time they need to make this thing as bullet-proof as possible.

7 Coming With The IX3 And INEXT

BMW has really taken to the EV market. The i3 and i8 have been successful and the i4 isn’t the only addition to the family. Coming next year the iX3 comes to Europe and after i4 makes its production debut BMW will follow up with the very futuristic iNEXT.

6 Top Speed Of 124+

It may sound unnecessary on our side of the pond but a 124mph top speed is something BMW needs to be a capable car worldwide. The autobahn sees those types of speeds every day and it’s no fun being stuck slower than everyone around you, especially when it’s because you chose an eco-friendly vehicle.

5 Built On A Modular Platform

This is a major source of BMWs comfortability bringing this car to market. The battery, the chassis, and the motors are all modular. That means that they can change things up as needed to add power, performance, economy, and even interior space. Who knows? Maybe we’ll see an electric, rear-wheel-drive M car someday soon.

4 Likely Coming In AWD To Start

We’ve already mentioned how it’ll have available All-Wheel drive. It’s interesting to note though that when it first goes on sale to the public it’s likely going to only come as an All-Wheel drive sedan. The thinking here is clear, it’ll accelerate best with 4 tires clawing at the ground. It’ll handle poor weather conditions too and be an attractive buy in more places worldwide.

3 Deliveries May Be Delayed To The U.S. Till 2022

One possible issue for American buyers is that this car is being made in BMWs Munich, Germany plant. There’s a reasonable chance that much like we’re getting the iX3 a year later than the European market, the i4 may end up coming a year late to the USA as well. That would push us back to 2022 before we can get our hands on the little super saloon.

2 The Future Of BMW Styling

When the iVision was released we had no idea that BMW would be so bold as to release a production car that looked so close to its concept in terms of styling. This is the general direction BMW is headed to in the future. They’re heavily emphasizing the blending of automobiles, technology, and modern manufacturing advances. Without each of these things working in harmony, we’d be looking at a very different car.

1 The 5th Generation Of BMW EDrive Technology

Most of us wouldn’t believe how many versions of BMWs battery systems there have been thus far. A look at the photo above shows what a drastic difference there is in the battery size and shape alone. Much like our cell phone batteries reducing in size and weight and giving up a bit more space for tech, these new car batteries do the same for BMW contributing to that modular platform we talked about earlier.