The fact that the upcoming BMW 7 Series will get a fully electric version in the future is no longer a secret. BMW was pretty open about it and looks like the upcoming BMW i7 will be playing a huge part in how the company develops on the long run. However, migrating a whole naming scheme to adapt to this new EV trend is not easy, especially since your cars have been defined by the numbers and letters on their respective bootlids for decades.
Over time, people started giving names like 730d a certain meaning. It used to translate into ‘3 liter straight six diesel 7 Series’. Today though, deciphering what hides under the hood of a BMW – it happens at Mercedes and Audi too – is a bit trickier than that.
And it’s bound to get trickier once the i7, i4 and iX come out. We’ve reported in the past that the upcoming BMW i7 will get a few models from the get go and they will be differentiated using their names. However, those exact names are apparently still under development, according to a new report.
A trusted insider posting on a forum yet another name change for the i7 line-up. Initially, as our own sources confirmed, BMW was bound to use monikers like i745, or i750 for its electric 7 Series. But if we’re to believe this new report, that’s no longer the case. According to it, the BMW i7 line-up will be made up of i7 eDrive45, i7 xDrive50 and i7 M60 models. Notice that the i7 M60 version remains the same no matter the source so it seems like this name is set in stone right now.
As for the other two, they follow the SUV guidelines more than the sedan ones. They also offer an insight into the power and traction setups. For example, the eDrive45 model would be less powerful than the xDrive50 one and would only have one powered axle, unlike its all-wheel drive brother. Considering the naming convention settled on for the i4, our guess is that BMW will more likely go with the initial plans but only time will tell which version is the correct one.
The specs should be similar nonetheless with what will be offered on the i4. Therefore, the eDrive45 or i745 models will have around 400 HP and only one powered axle (most likely the rear one), the xDrive50 or i750 model will get around 450 HP while the M60 version will get over 500 HP, easily. The battery sizes will vary between 80 and 120 kWh.
