SPIED: BMW Is Playing Catch Up Against The Tesla Model 3 — What Does The i4 NEED To SUCCEED?

Price is going to be an important factor. If (and I said if) Tesla ever gets their promised $35k model out, BMW will need to keep this in the low $40s at minimum. And you need to be able to drive it off the lot reasonably equipped below $50k. Then they'll put Tesla to shame. I realize a 400+ mile battery isn't going to come cheap, but if they offer multiple battery capacities they might be able to meet those price points.

BMW can get away with a price premium over Tesla, especially since they would likely still have the full fed. tax credit, but not by much.

Tesla will likely not be around long enough to go head to head with this BMW. Their sales are cratering and the Ponzi scheme based on unending growth has met reality of decreasing demand.

This is easy, the i4 needs to look NOTHING like current i cars...

Apparently you are under the mistaken impression that the I Pace is a competitor of the Model 3. And I might add that Tesla has been offering all sorts of deals to move their Model 3s, and had on hand 3300 they could not unload, way, way more than the number of unsold Jaguars. And even worse, those Model 3 sales occurred over a period of 2 1/2 years, while the JAguar just came to market. You should not report false comparisons like that. You lose credibility that way. Apparently you are also unaware of the sales performance of the I Pace against its direct competitors, the Model S and Model X, in Europe.At the end of the year the I PAce was outselling the Model S and Model X by 2 to 1 and 4 to 1 margins and drove Tesla sales down 40% in Norway. As a result, suddenly Tesla discontinued the Model S and Model X base models and fired employees building those cars. And we can't forget the yet to go into production Porche Taycan, which had to double its planned production because of high demand and recently announced that the entire fist year's production was sold out - many selling to former fed-up Tesla owners.
Porsche will produce more Taycans this year that Tesla Model S and Model X cars combined. And, of course, the Porsche can recharge twice as fast as any Tesla
and out accelerate every TEsla except their $130,000 plus performance versions.
And that I Pace will also have a performance version which willout accelerate every Tesla vehicle, including their $250,000 sports car. Tesla is finally facing direct competitors and not doing well. IN fact, Tesla is going to get hit by over 250 electric vehicles coming to market over the next several years
and will get obliterated - it now has second rate EV technology and a doomed Supercharger network which is expanding at less than 10% of the rate promised.
Ditto for their horrible service facilities both here and abroad. The company is a disgrace, but then, look at its CEO.

I would add that Audi has arrived to the EV party too! The Audi eTron has already been launched and Audi will debut a smaller all-EV SUV at the Geneva show. Porsche, BMW and Audi are all either at the EV battle or about to show up. Their offerings have been viewed as highly competitive in the marketplace and the Audi eTron has been praised in many publications.

Tesla's time as the only all-EV choice for the premium buyer is over. The competition has already hurt its sales and that's coming from lowly Jaguar, which can't compete with Audi or BMW on a global scale. Once Audi and BMW show up to the EV party, look out Tesla!

It (1) has to be a good BMW and (2) should have none of the ugliness of the i3 or the plasticky look of the i8.

@MD They may have learned from the looks of things. But it seems it will be very similar to the ICE designs. No standing out.

What if the i4 replaces the 4 series completely?

Whether Tesla survives long term is one issue, but the i4 photos show a car that will not be competitive with a Model 3 because it does not use an EV-specific platform. Look at the side view and you will see an overly long hood and small cabin. It is all wasted space because of the compromises using a one-size-fits-all-drivelines platform. This is not a serious effort by BMW, but then maybe they think there isn't a big enough market to justify a bespoke platform. The next hot EV should be the Audi small crossover using the VW MEB platform.

This "...will not be competitive with a Model 3 because it does not use an EV-specific platform..." is HIGHLY debatable and most decidedly not incontrovertible fact.

One new EV on the road is one fewer pollution and GHG emission source. I trust that BMW will do right this time with the new i4 and erase the sins of the i3. I won't be buying a BMW but will be cheering for it if it's for real.

The pollution source is just transferred elsewhere. An EV is not cleaner not by any stretch of the imagination.

There is not much one can do about intentional ignorance. I would just let the facts of science sort it out.

Pretty sure Matt just explained that... the science and the facts...

My next car after current 5 series has its life

BMW does not have an Elon Musk and a rabid fan base for EVs. This makes it an uphill battle converting the existing customer base and conquering a new one from other brands. Add the stubborn dealership network and even if the i4 turns out to be a gem, it still may have a hard time finding its way into customers' hands.

Cue the burning-cross, people in white sheets response from EVisNow and CarlosSanJoseAsshatterDriver.

This has a shape similar to the new G70 and a Stinger. I think that’s the first mistake out the gate. BMW needed to come out with something that looks fresh and new while still maintaining its BMWness, and certainly not anything like the current “i” models. I think that’s part of the strength of the Model S. It looked like almost nothing else on the market but was attractive and modern. And, actually, it still stands out on its own even amongst all of the expensive sedans out there.

A couple of points; overall EVs only represent a small decrease in pollution, not accounting for what to do with the batteries once they need to be discarded. And if you use coal to produce the energy needed for your beloved EV then all bets are off. Plus, up to 30 percent of power is lost to resistance traveling through those wires - so, more energy needs to be produced than is used by the vehicle.
Al Gore made this mistake while trying to save the planet as VP. He did not allow any more oil refineries polluting our air, water etc so none were built - here. Oil still needed to be refined and new refineries were built overseas taking their jobs and tax revenue with them/ Point - more oil kept getting refined. The pollution did not stop, it just got moved somewhere else.

Style, not ugly BMW dated style, but real live style... If BMW which has billed itself as a drivers car, and we have many EV's coming that will be little different in abilities, then the only thing left is to design something that provokes emotion, not a re-warmed 3 series body with electric power...BMW completely failed with i3, iNext is an abomination to look at, so get someone from Pininfarina to draw a car and build it... the people at BMW are lost when it comes to the emotion of style... cue the bucktoothed 7 that just arrived.