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The 2023 BMW i7’s EPA vary is lastly EPA official. When the German model’s new flagship sedan made its debut, it featured a variety of powertrain choices together with a completely electrical mannequin BMW is looking the i7, however its vary numbers had been merely estimates. Now, the EPA has strapped its testing gear to some i7s and declared that the i7 may have no less than 296 miles of vary on a full cost.
However you get 296 miles of vary if you happen to go for the 20-inch wheels and all-season tires. Do you have to wish to maximize the vary of your totally electrical luxurious barge, you may want to pick out the smaller 19-inch wheels wrapped with all-seasons. That combo nets 318 miles of complete vary. However there may be an fascinating outlier right here. If you happen to resolve that neither the 19- nor 20-inch wheels fill the i7’s huge wheel arches effectively sufficient however must crack that all-important 300-mile barrier, you are in luck.
Going for the i7’s 21-inch wheel possibility with efficiency tires really nets you a variety of 308 miles per the EPA. For some time all of us thought greater wheels and stickier tires meant a variety penalty, however BMW has by some means managed to buck that development. Simply how the automaker managed to do that, we aren’t certain, however we’ll discover out as soon as we’re in a position to topic the i7 to our very personal real-world EV vary take a look at.
The excellent news would not finish there, nevertheless. Throughout our vary take a look at of the all-electric 2022 BMW iX xDrive50 midsize SUV, we discovered that it smashed its EPA-estimated vary. Whereas the EPA places the xDrive50’s vary at solely 315 miles on a single cost, we had been in a position to journey a whopping 377 miles on our take a look at automobile. Whereas there is not any assure that the i7 will pull the identical trick, it is good to know that typically the EPA’s figures underestimate a automobile’s effectivity. It is also price noting that the iX and i7 each carry batteries which have greater than 100 kW of usable capability (the iX’s is rated at 105.2 kW, whereas the i7’s has 101.7 kW of usable power).
As for the way the i7 compares to its rival from Mercedes-Benz, the EQS, it is not wanting too good for the Bimmer. Whereas the bottom EQS 450+ carries an EPA-estimated vary of 350 miles, in our take a look at it was in a position to journey 422 miles. The identical goes for the much more highly effective EQS 580 mannequin that, whereas rated at 340 miles, sauntered on to 381 miles in our arms. So whereas the BMW cracks that all-important 300-mile mark, it is nonetheless a good bit behind the pair of Mercs.
The i7 is on sale now, and if this imposing monolith of a luxurious sedan pursuits you, you’ll be able to go forward and decide one up for a cool $120,295.
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