New BMW 7er / i7 2023
Attack on the S-Class
BMW 7 Series / i7 2023
© press-inform – the press office
For a short time the iX can boast of being the figurehead at BMW. But the coming sevens is already in the starting blocks as a competitor to the Audi A8, Mercedes S-Class and EQS. For the first time, the Bavarian top model will not only be available as a combustion engine, but also as an electric version i7.
There is still some way to go, but the new BMW 7 Series is set to celebrate its world premiere in the coming spring and will also be available to customers in 2022. Shortly after its market launch at the end of next year as a combustion version, the luxury sedan will also be available to customers all over the world as an electric version under the name i7. As before, the coming seven will be available with various six and eight-cylinder engines at the market launch. Four-cylinder got – apart from a basic variant for China – just as little chance as the particularly image-boosting twelve-cylinder, which formerly powered the 760. While the 6.6-liter V12 engine is still available in various Rolls-Royce versions, the new BMW flagship has to do without the image-boosting dozen combustion chambers. This is currently only offered by the Mercedes S-Class and the Bentley Flying Spur.
Although the current eight-cylinder with its 530 hp in connection with the well-known ZF eight-speed automatic is currently the measure of drive things in the luxury segment, there will be a completely newly developed V8 with supercharging in the medium term. For the first time also as a power hybrid called the BMW M7, which, just like the new luxury SUV of the BMW XM, could produce more than 700 hp and thus hunt down the new Mercedes AMG EQS 53. The electric range of the various plug-in hybrids six and eight cylinders will be over 100 kilometers and the drive portfolio will cover a range between 250 and almost 750 hp. Most of the variants of the new seven, including the electric i7, will have all-wheel drive as standard. The various i7 versions not only offer driver assistance level three, but also outputs between 350 and over 700 hp. The most powerful variant of the new seven series could therefore be an electric model that hunts for models like Lucid, Nio and Co. The standard consumption of the current i7 prototypes is below 20 kWh / 100 kilometers.
Prototype testing of the upcoming top model is currently in full swing all over the world. There are not only numerous vehicles on the road in Europe, but also in North America and Asia. In hot country tests on test tracks and public roads around the world, the development engineers primarily verify the performance and reliability of the electric motors, the all-wheel drive and the high-voltage battery under maximum load from high temperatures, unpaved roads, dust and large differences in altitude. The way to series production leads the prototypes of the BMW i7, among other things, over cracked gravel roads and into scorching desert areas, into the mountains and on selected highly dynamic routes.
But the fleet of camouflaged prototypes is not only on the move in the heat, on various test tracks and in downtown congestion. The winter of 2021/2022, which has just begun, is putting the finishing touches on part of the fleet during the equally torturous cold country trials. The focus of the winter test is not least on the components of the electric drive system. The electric drive, high-voltage battery, power electronics and charging technology of the BMW i7 come from the fifth generation of BMW electrical technology, which is already installed in the BMW iX. At extremely sub-zero temperatures in northern Sweden, the engine, battery and temperature control of the high-voltage battery in the BMW i7 demonstrate their degree of maturity.