Electric Relaxation

The BMW i4 promises trademark Bavarian driving dynamics with zero emissions and zero hassles. Does it deliver?

- Parth Charan

Having Supercar V8S and superbike in-line fours echo past the better part of its Sunday morning is something the city of Mumbai has grown accustomed to. A handful of DSLRtoting, baggy-clothed car spotters have already taken position before the M3s and AMGs dart past them, crackling exhausts announcing their arrival long before the cars actually get within eyeshot. And yet I find most fingers and flashing cameras point towards the silent-though by no means innocuous-BMW i4 that I'm piloting. Perhaps it's the toothy M4-esque grille, I think to myself as a Bentley Continental pulls away from a curb. But loud exclamations featuring the words "BMW" and "EV", which manage to permeate the car's uncannily insulated cabin, tell me I'm mistaken.

It's not often that we get to witness a widespread public reaction to a drastically altering technological landscape. The closest I've come to witnessing that sort of hysteria was in post-liberalized India, when international car brands began testing the waters of the Indian car market with a fairly esoteric mix of hatchbacks, sedans, and the occasional SUV. To India's barren automotive landscape, and my own wide-eyed sensibilities, everything was novel. That certainly isn't the case today. And yet this two-tonne, kidney-grille projectile has managed to rob the attention so frequently reserved for the fanciest sports cars money can buy.