What will BMW’s now-famous i Division look like in 2021, a short five years away? The current BMW i3 and i8 will still be around, as they will likely last to 2022 following their life-cycle updates. So don’t expect those two to go away any time soon. However, there should be at least one new car in the i Division lineup, currently under the project name “i20“.
Named either i5 or i6, the project i20 car will be a fully electric car and have advanced autonomous technology. It won’t have Level 5 autonomy (complete, fully brain-off autonomous driving) but it will be either Level 3 (autonomous under most driving situations) or Level 4 (autonomous under nearly all driving situations but still requires a human driver).
The upcoming BMW i20 project car will be built on a new chassis developed from a mixture of lightweight materials such as aluminum, high-strength steel and carbon fiber. It will also be a bit larger than the i3 but also a bit better looking. While the i3 is certainly interesting looking and funky, it’s not really pretty. The new car should be a bit better looking and slightly more conventional so as to attract a larger audience. BMW did the right thing by making the i3 funky as all hell, but a more mainstream car will need more mainstream looks if BMW wants to sell it in larger numbers.
BMW has been heavily criticized as of late for not being forward-thinking enough with its i Division and stubbornly sticking to hybrids. BMW should be able to quiet the critics in 2021 with its new car that will not only be fully electric but also have advanced autonomous capabilities.
