BMW isn’t letting off the gas on its electric vehicle program – the company plans replacements for the i3 and i8 by 2022, according to Automobile Magazine, and a new entrant dubbed Project i20 internally (but likely to be known as the i5 or i6 when it hits streets) on track for 2021. The i20 has a fully electric drivetrain, like the i3 before it, and will also offer BMW’s most sophisticated autonomous driving features to date.
The i20 will have multiple drivetrain options, ranging from 136 hp at the low end, to a powerful 247 hp at the top. Automobile describes it as a “bigger, prettier, and more aerodynamic i3,” which should go over well with potential BMW electric buyers, since the i3’s design is fairly divisive overall (I love the little guy, personally).
But the bigger news might be the self-driving features. There aren’t any details about what’s planned for the i20 initially beyond that it’ll have “advanced autonomous” features, but the report claims a fully self-driving version is planned for a debut in 2025.
The i3 updates planed for 2022 include a number of different proposals currently in consideration, including one design that uses the current carbon-fiber body build, one with an all-aluminum chassis, and a final version with a blend of a number of different materials.
The i8’s update, which the magazine says could slip to 2023, looks like will abandon the current hybrid design and opt for an all-electric three-motor, 750 hp drivetrain with batteries boasting a 300 mile driving range.
These all sound like solid additions to BMW’s EV lineup, but the i20 is probably the most intriguing, both because we’ll get to see it before the others if the roadmap stays true, and because of its self-driving capabilities. Plus, it sounds like it might try to thread the needle between the two extremes of the i3 and the i8, which could put it squarely in competition with the likes of the Tesla Model S.
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