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BMW prepping i6 for 2024 launch – report

The luxury fastback segment is heating up with BMW planning to join Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Tesla.


Autoblog Italia reports a four-door coupe called the i6 will be the next all-electric BMW after the upcoming i4 four-door coupe and iX3 and iNext crossovers.

It may appear in 2024, ready to rival the Porsche Taycan and the upcoming Audi e-tron GT and Mercedes-Benz EQS.

According to Autoblog, the i6 will feature all-wheel drive and a choice of two electric powertrains.

 

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Pictured: the 2017 i Vision Dynamics concept

The standard version is expected to feature two electric motors: one on the front axle with 150kW and one on the rear axle with 250kW. Up-spec models will use dual 250kW electric motors.

There’ll also be two different batteries, a 90kWh option expected to deliver 560km of electric range and a 120kWh battery with an expected 700km of range.

Those figures compare favourably to rivals like the Taycan.

In Overboost mode, the Taycan produces 390kW and 500kW in 4S and Turbo trims, respectively.

The Taycan’s best electric range is 463km under the WLTP cycle in the 4S with the optional 93.4kWh Performance Battery Plus option.

Unlike the i4 and iX3, which will be electric versions of the 4 Series Gran Coupe and X3, respectively, the i6 won’t have an ICE-powered counterpart.

 

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Expect the i6 to resemble the i Vision Dynamics concept revealed at the 2017 Frankfurt motor show.

The most controversial part of that concept’s design, however, will likely be restyled.

Like the 2018 Vision iNext concept, the i Vision Dynamics featured a large, dumbbell-shaped grille – effectively a bolder, conjoined version of BMW’s classic double kidney grille.

Head of design Domagoj Dukec has confirmed the production iNext will feature two separate kidneys, as will the i4 and iX3. He said the conjoined grille of the Vision iNext no longer looked like a BMW grille, hence the change.

If the production i6 adheres closely to the i Vision Dynamics concept, that means it’ll be sized somewhere in between the 3 Series and 5 Series sedans.

 

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The i Vision Dynamics measured 4800mm long, 1933mm wide and 1387mm tall.

BMW’s electric range is in the midst of a massive transformation.

The i8 PHEV has ended production and the i3 won’t be renewed for a second generation, instead set to be withdrawn in 2024.

The iX3 is slated for launch in Europe in 2020, the i4 and iNext following in 2021. An electric i1 is also expected for 2021.

The i6 will return a 6-branded four-door coupe to the BMW range after the slinky 6 Series Gran Coupe was retired in 2018.

BMW recently relaunched its largest two- and four-door coupes and convertible under the resurrected 8 Series nameplate.

 

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The only 6 Series-branded passenger car remaining is the 6 Series GT, a segment-busting five-door hatchback that was recently chosen alongside the Toyota Camry Hybrid to replace the Holden Caprices in the Australian Government’s Comcar fleet.

It succeeded the conceptually similar 5 Series GT. Though the 6 Series GT is considerably more rakish than its rather frumpy predecessor, it’s likely the i6 will feature more hunkered down styling more reminiscent of the 8 Series Gran Coupe.

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