Geneva 2016: BMW to introduce iPerformance sub-brand

BMW has made an official declaration that from July 2016 all plug-in hybrid vehicles rolling out of the assembly line will carry the iPerformance label on it. The German manufacturer will be launching the iPerformance sub-brand officially at the upcoming Geneva International Motor Show which will be held in Switzerland in March. The new sub-brand will also make its debut with the BMW 7 Series plug-in hybrid which will be christened as 740e iPerformance.

All the cars coming under the iPerformance series will have subtle yet noticeable ‘i’ annotations throughout the external body lines and inside. The signature kidney grille and wheel hubs will feature ‘electric blue’ elements signifying the speciality of the luxury sedan. The car will also have the eDrive badge taking it place on the rear pillar. The plug-in charging point for the batteries is provided the front left fender behind the wheel arch which the manufacturer calls the ‘BMW i Wallbox’.

BMW has employed a new engine which will power the 740e iPerformance and is claimed by the manufacturer to be most powerful four-pot motor to be ever used in a series production car. The TwinPower turbocharged petrol engine is alone capable of muscling out 258.3PS of power. The engine is permanently coupled to a synchronous electric motor which belts out a combined output of 326.3PS of power and impressive 500Nm of torque. Providing power to the electric motor is a high-voltage lithium-ion battery which is located under the rear seats and has the capacity of 9.2kWh output. The company predicts the car to reach 100kmph from standstill in 5.6 seconds. Driven in pure electric mode the BMW 740e iPerformance will deliver a range of 40kms as achieved in the European test cycle.

On the inside, the driver of the car has access to choose the desired power source like pure electric drive, preserving battery charge for use later and so on. In auto mode, the intelligent electronic control module decides the best suited combination depending the information received from the driving style.