One of the stars of BMW's stand at this week's Auto Shanghai motor show is its most powerful and fastest EV yet, the i7 M70 xDrive, based on the electric version of the BMW 7 Series. It goes into production this year and will sit alongside the i7 xDrive60 that costs from €140,175 in Ireland today.
Power dense rear electric motor
The peak figures associated with the i7 M70's electric drivetrain are impressive enough on their own - up to 660hp and 1,100Nm of torque - but you get the feeling that BMW is particularly proud of its engineers' ability to extract all that from a dual-motor (one front, one rear for all-wheel drive) setup instead of adding a third electric motor. The rear motor in the M70 is the most powerful yet developed by BMW - rated at 335kW or 456hp - and is claimed to be over 25 per cent more power dense (the ratio of power to weight) than the item used in the i7 xDrive60, thanks mainly to an innovative six-winding layout.
BMW quotes a 0-100km/h time of 3.7 seconds when using the built-in launch control feature, while drivers can also access the full performance of the powertrain at any time regardless of the driving mode selected by holding the left-hand shift paddle. That activates the M Sport Boost function, indicated by special graphics and an altered synthetic soundtrack.
Option to max out the range
The i7 M70 xDrive gets a large lithium-ion battery pack, with a 101.7kWh usable capacity and BMW quotes a range of up to 560 kilometres. As standard there's 22kW AC charging and 195kW DC charging. The Max Range mode allows the driver to maximise the range by limiting the top speed to 90km/h, reducing the power output and optimising the climate control etc. for efficiency. BMW claims this can increase the range by up to 25 per cent depending on conditions.
M-developed chassis
Although the i7 M70 is clearly still a large luxury car, BMW M has worked on the chassis to endow it with agility and driver engagement for when that's required. The air suspension with electronically controlled dampers and self-levelling setup is retained, but the dampers and air springs have been changed for that reason. Integral Active Steering (rear-wheel steering) is included as standard, as is the Executive Drive Pro system with active roll stabilisation. The final touch is an increase in torsional stiffness of the chassis thanks to the addition of a new 'shear panel' at the front.
Larger brakes are standard, too, while the i7 M70 gets a unique design of 21-inch alloy wheel.
M-flavoured visual makeover
All versions of the M70 get clear M styling signifiers, including a restyled front 'grille', special door mirrors, side sills, badging and rear detailing. Buyers can upgrade to the M Performance package for a sportier appearance again, which gets a black rear spoiler among other touches. Contour lighting for the BMW kidney grille up front also features. Among the scores of paint colours available are eight two-tone finishes, including the special BMW Individual combination of Liquid Copper metallic and Sapphire Black metallic shown in our image gallery.
Interior to your liking
By default, the i7 M70 gets the usual M-flavoured interior with a black and red theme, but there's a vast array of personalisation options including nine different colour variants, various upholstery to choose from and special 'Carbon Fibre M' trim with silver threads.
The M70 will be one of BMW's first cars to feature a significant upgrade to its software, denoted as BMW Operating System 8.5 with 'QuickSelect' functionality. It still uses an iDrive rotary controller in the i7 along with the large curved touchscreen, but the home screen and interface have been redesigned to minimise the number of times the driver has to press the display to access and alter various functions.