BMW has released the i7 in China

BMW has introduced the all-electric i7 to the Chinese market. The i7 is the fifth electric model offered by BMW in China, following the iX, i4, iX3 and i3. The BMW i7 starts as xDrive60L at a base price of 1.46 million yuan, the equivalent of 198,870 euros.

It will later be followed by two versions of the i7 eDrive50L, which have gone on pre-sale at prices of 1 million and 1.2 million yuan (136,210 and 163,450 euros) respectively. As the entire 7 series, including the combustion models, are increasingly designed to meet the demands of the Chinese market, which is important for this model, there is no special long-wheelbase version – the i7 in China is largely the same as the model launched in April.

The luxury saloon is 5.39 metres long and has a wheelbase of 3.22 metres. The i7 xDrive60 uses a 400 kW all-wheel drive with two e-motors and can thus accelerate to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds. In the WLTP, consumption is between 18.4 and 19.6 kWh/100km, depending on equipment, and the WLTP range is between 590 and 625 kilometres with the 101.7 kWh battery in the window. In the Chinese standard cycle CLTC, the range is given as 650 kilometres and the consumption as 17.9 kWh/100km.

A visible change in the i7 for the Chinese market is the second charging port: Since the vehicles in China are not delivered with the CCS2 standard (which combines AC and DC in one charging port) that is widespread in Europe, this change is necessary for China: Above the right rear wheel is the fast-charging port according to the Chinese standard GB/T. However, the Munich company has not placed the separate AC charging port above the left rear wheel, but uses a body component of the PHEV version of the 7 Series: The AC port is located on the driver’s side between the door and the front wheel. In theory, this allows the driver to charge the car in one easy step after getting out of the car in the garage at home, without having to go around the whole car first.

While at the premiere of the i7 for 2023 the top model i7 M70 xDrive with 485 kW output was still promised, this variant for China is now not mentioned (for the time being). No technical data are yet known for the 50-series variant announced instead. BMW’s Chinese website currently only lists the i7 xDrive60 with a sports package and a ‘deluxe’ package.

In 2023, the number of models offered by BMW in China is expected to rise to eleven. This includes the iX1, which will be built locally for the Chinese market. In Germany, series production of the iX1 started at the BMW plant in Regensburg in November.

Also in November, the Chinese joint venture BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) had announced an investment of around 10 billion yuan (1.38 billion euros) in the expansion of its electric car battery production in the city of Shenyang.

At the end of November, however, there were reports that BMW would only be able to get rid of the i3 (in China an electric version of the 3 series sedan) with heavy discounts. Mercedes is similarly struggling to sell the EQE and EQS. The EQS, a direct competitor to the i7, is now available at prices between 845,000 and 1,134,000 yuan, which is equivalent to 112,620 to 153,820 euros. The AMG EQS 53 costs 198,600 yuan less than before and is available from 1,486,000 yuan (201,560 euros).

cnevpost.com, bmw.com.cn (in Chinese)