BMW i4
Charging curve · consumption · motorway range
The BMW i4 has 81.3 kWh of usable battery and peaks at 205 kW on a DC charger. In this app's model it uses about 158 Wh/km at a steady 100 km/h and 227 Wh/km at 130, so 44% more energy per kilometre buys you 30 km/h more speed. Weigh that against a 34-minute 10-80% charging stop and you have the whole question of how fast to drive.
- Usable battery
- 81.3 kWh
- Peak DC power
- 205 kW
- 10-80% charge
- 34 min
- Average kW 10-80%
- 100 kW
- Mass, loaded
- 2305 kg
- Top speed
- 190 km/h
DC charging curve
Charging power against state of charge, on a charger fast enough not to be the limit. Peak power is 205 kW, but it has halved by about 51% state of charge. That is why a short stop low down the curve usually beats a long one near the top.
How long a stop takes
| Charge from | Time | Energy added | Average power |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% to 80% | 34 min | 56.9 kWh | 100 kW |
| 20% to 80% | 31 min | 48.8 kWh | 93 kW |
| 10% to 60% | 19 min | 40.6 kWh | 127 kW |
| 20% to 70% | 23 min | 40.6 kWh | 105 kW |
| 80% to 100% | 26 min | 16.3 kWh | 37 kW |
The curve, point by point
| State of charge | Power |
|---|---|
| 0% | 205 kW |
| 5% | 199 kW |
| 15% | 205 kW |
| 21% | 183 kW |
| 36% | 159 kW |
| 42% | 124 kW |
| 53% | 97 kW |
| 74% | 69 kW |
| 78% | 57 kW |
| 84% | 57 kW |
| 86% | 48 kW |
| 93% | 48 kW |
| 97% | 41 kW |
| 100% | 8 kW |
Consumption and range by cruise speed
Steady motorway cruising on flat road in mild weather, from the fitted model Wh/km = 58 + 0.01 · v². The “usable range” column is the honest one for trip planning: it is 100% down to 10%, because nobody arrives on empty.
| Cruise speed | Consumption | Range (full pack) | Usable range (100 to 10%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 km/h | 139 Wh/km | 585 km | 526 km |
| 100 km/h | 158 Wh/km | 515 km | 463 km |
| 110 km/h | 179 Wh/km | 454 km | 409 km |
| 120 km/h | 202 Wh/km | 402 km | 362 km |
| 130 km/h | 227 Wh/km | 358 km | 322 km |
| 140 km/h | 254 Wh/km | 320 km | 288 km |
| 150 km/h | 283 Wh/km | 287 km | 259 km |
| 160 km/h | 314 Wh/km | 259 km | 233 km |
What the model does not include
- Elevation. The trip planner does account for climbs and descents; the range figures on this page are flat-road, so an alpine route will come out worse than the table.
- Temperature. These are mild-weather numbers. Cold raises consumption and cuts the charging curve. The planner models both. The numbers on this page do not.
- Wind, rain, roof boxes, payload and tyre choice, all of which move real consumption more than most people expect.
- Charger-side limits. The charging times above assume the site can deliver whatever the car asks for. A 150 kW cabinet shared with the car next to you will not.
Where these numbers come from
Big 81 kWh usable pack with a broad 205 kW plateau, so long legs and few stops. Charge curve measured, not drawn: digitized from published Fastned and InsideEVs plots by Morin et al., figshare doi:10.1184/R1/30570653 (CC BY 4.0), then reduced to anchor points that reproduce its charge times to within 2%.
What speed should you actually drive?
It depends on your route, on where the fast chargers happen to be and how the legal limits fall. Plan the real trip and the simulator will sweep every cruise speed against this car's curves and tell you which one arrives first.
Plan a trip in the i4