BMW sedan uses EV tech to deliver dramatic luxury; it’s a theatre on wheels

2023 BMW i7 xDrive60

Type: Five-door, five-passenger, full-size sedan, dual motor, all-wheel drive battery electric vehicle (BEV)

Motor: Dual current-excited electric motors, combined power of 536 horsepower and 549 lbs.-ft. of torque (motive force)

Transmission: Single-speed, direct drive

Range: 496 kilometres (21-inch wheels) from a 101.7 kWh (usable) battery

Efficiency: 2.8 Le (litre equivalent)/100 km in the city; 2.6 Le/100 km on the highway; 2.7 Le/100 km combined

Cargo capacity: 501 litres or 17.6 cubic feet

Price: $147,000 (MSRP); $194,200 as tested, not including freight and fees

Electric vehicle tech really shows off its advantages when applied to the ultra-luxury class of sedans and SUVs; Rolls-Royce, a marque that only makes cars for the one-per cent, recently announced that all its vehicles would be electric after 2030, which makes complete sense. BMW’s 7 Series, arguably one of the finest executive limos out, has a new battery electric version called the i7 and it goes head to head with Mercedes’ latest EV flagship, the EQS.

In this upper echelon of vehicles, cabins are not merely places to sit and drive: they are rolling sanctuaries of quietness and isolation.

The large engines, traditionally mounted in the front of these heavy cars, have always provided engineers with the challenge of making their noise, vibration, and harshness disappear, and that’s no easy feat.

With electric motors, this isn’t necessary.

There is no noise.

There is no harshness.

EV motors are silent, powerful, efficient.

It’s the perfect recipe for a luxury vehicle.

The i7 xDrive60 has two electric motors, one on each axle. Combined, they make 536 horsepower (hp) and 549 lbs.-ft. of instantly available torque (motive force), driving all four wheels. Feeding those motors is a large, 101.7 kWh (kilowatt-hour, usable) battery that lives under the floor. A heat pump makes heating or cooling the cabin of the i7 much more efficient than it would be without one. Total range is 498 km. (This depends on a variety of factors, including weather, driving style, even wheel size.)

With a maximum charging speed of 195 kW (kilowatts), you can top up your i7 at a rate of up to 128 km every 10 minutes when connected to a DC fast charger, according to BMW. Level 2 or AC charging maxes out at a respectable 11 kW. While it would be nice to have seen something remotely close to those charging speeds, the Electrify Canada station I tried, supposedly rated at 150 kW, only put out about 45 kW, and it still charged me by the minute.

But the BMW i7 is everything you expect from a 7 Series, and then some.

The luxury starts with getting into the car, because this i7 has power-operated doors, a $2,000 option, and worth every penny. Pull on the fixed door handle and the door pops open. Move out of its way and it will continue to swing open. Ultrasonic sensors will stop the door from hitting other cars, pedestrians, cyclists. Inside, there are touch buttons to open and close the doors. You can even control them from the infotainment screen.

Once you are seated, you can turn your attention to a large curved display, which houses screens for the driver, and the centre console. But the most striking thing is “the interaction bar.” It’s a backlit clear strip with a polygon design that runs the length of the dashboard and changes colours, depending on the drive mode your in. There are capacitive (hypersensitive) touch controls built in for the defroster and defogger and the glove box. Most everything else is controlled through the infotainment system, including the climate control. iDrive remains one of the best systems in the business, not only because of its cutting-edge graphics and snappy responses, but because it still uses a rotary controller, which makes interacting with the screen easier when you are on the move.

There are more screens in the i7. Rear passengers each get one embedded in their door armrests. These 5.5-inch screens control the sunshades, entertainment, and the climate control, of which four distinct zones are available. But the real party trick is the Theatre Screen, a $4,900 option. For that not-insignificant sum of money, you get a 31.2-inch 8K screen that drops down from the roof at the touch of a button and is controlled by those rear passenger screens or the main infotainment screen. It’s got Amazon Fire TV built in, and that means you can stream video from Netflix, Prime, or your most of your favourite services. You can even play games, stream music, or connect your PlayStation to it.

The seats are epic. Big, coddling, and supportive, with a built-in massage function and buttery Merino leather upholstery. They make long drives feel shorter.

A 7 Series has always been a quiet and serene car to drive, but the i7 is in another league. The outside world is muted and you can enjoy a relaxing escape wafting along, riding on a cumulus cloud.

Cramming all this technology into a car means the i7 is monstrously big and heavy, but the electric motors make it feel weightless. And, with active four-wheel steering and active-roll-stabilization, it still manages to balance the athleticism a 7 Series has always been known for with a magic carpet ride, courtesy of the standard air suspension and adaptive dampers. BMW even puts the more powerful of the two EV motors on the rear axle, giving this i7 a playful rear-wheel drive feel.

There’s just something so cool about being able to accelerate so quickly and so smoothly in complete silence. I might not want that in a sports car, but in a luxury sedan, it feels perfect.

Editor’s note: Please be aware that availability of vehicles depends on supply.