3,000 Kilometer Report

　　The BMW i7 is amongst the nicest, most expensive cars to have ever graced CarWale’s long-term garage. Unsurprisingly, it added a sense of occasion every time I took it out, be it leisurely drives across the far end of the town or cosseting on the everyday commute. Yet, rarely has a long-term test car caused such mixed emotions within me while returning it.

　　I don’t think there’s a more valiant car on sale when it comes to aesthetics and as far as EVs go, the i7 is as serene and effortless as they come. But as it turns out, living with an electric sedan this big, this low and this expensive, has its ups and downs.

　　The i7 is a car that people of all age groups talk to you about, and the whole experience has been genuinely surprising, given that it’s a noiseless sedan in a shade of vanilla. I have had middle-aged residents in my condominium come to me inquisitively, squirrelly teenagers take pictures of the car when parked, and many a time, other drivers give me way at junctions first, just so that they can take a good look at the intimidating front-end and its sheer length. The i7 is unapologetically remarkable to look at. It isn’t a work of art or anything, but it will get you attention wherever you go. If you are someone who isn’t comfortable being in the limelight, then this EV isn’t for you.

　　Also, the i7 really isn’t about efficiency, even though it’s an EV. But I have to start with the real world range. What you see here is the eDrive50 version with a 101.7 kWh battery pack and a claimed range of 603km. I live 25km away from where CarWale is based and I don’t have a charger at home. That’s 50km of daily commute and on an average, I would consume around 10 per cent charge every day, meaning I didn’t have to deal with range anxiety at any point during the entire week.

　　Better still, I have arrived at work on Mondays, with around 30 per cent charge and 150km range, after having driven the i7 over the weekend. In our real-world range test wherein we drove the i7 from 100 per cent battery level all the way to zero per cent, we covered a distance of 466.6km which is 77 per cent of what BMW India claims as ARAI-certified range. Although I appreciate the i7’s plentiful range for my usage, it is also worth pointing out that the last three months spent living with it haven’t been the easiest. Time for a backstory.

　　Often, I would wonder what it would be like to live with an EV, ever since electric vehicles got mainstream in India. Having used EVs on short-term tests, up until I picked up the i7, it was a proper step into the unknown, considering I don’t have a charger at home and that I’d have to rely on India’s still underdeveloped charging infrastructure. Thankfully there is a highly reliable fast charger within walking distance of my workplace, and it would cost me around Rs 3,000 to charge the i7 so I would be golden for a week or so.

　　That said, once the battery was down to around 25 per cent, I found myself constantly looking at the charge levels, and then began the task of finding a charging station with a DC fast charger because for some reason, the i7 stopped cooperating with slow AC chargers after a month or so. It happened with our workplace AC charger at first and subsequently, with a couple of alternatives familiar to me. Nonetheless, I resorted to DC fast chargers for the remainder of my time with the i7, even though it cost me more to run the thing.

　　Unlike 99 percent of people who would buy the i7, I didn’t spend much time over the rear seats, although I did put myself onto the airline-style recliner chairs during a couple of journeys and boy, was I smitten! The ride is supremely comfortable, and there is more than enough space and gadgets in the second row to make you feel special. Here you get smartphone-sized screens integrated into the door pads, which control bazillion functions of the car. What I also like is the fact that the i7 gets ‘modes’, and not just drive modes. Each mode transforms the entire personality of the cabin. For instance, if you select the Theatre mode, it shuts the blinds, slides the massively wide 32-inch screen down from the roof, reclines the seats, and teleports you to your own movie theatre on the move. Similarly, the Relax mode will turn on soothing, ambient lighting, massage function and serene music.

　　All in all, the i7 has the road presence, the efficiency, the comfort and most important of all, the ability to make you feel special, even during a Monday morning commute. What I have also observed is that it’s pure automotive excess for a mere mortal like me. Spanning 5.4m in length, it requires a bit of pre-planning if it’s an unfamiliar location within the city. Every time. Parking the i7, then would be a task but let me tell you, manoeuvring the i7 at slow speeds or making a U-turn is as easy as doing it in a midsize sedan. The rear-wheel steering on this thing doesn’t allow extreme angles like you see in high-end Mercedes models, but it is plenty effective, especially while making a U-turn, wherein the i7 would wrap around me with phenomenal dexterity.

　　The i7 has been facing tough competition from other high-end EVs, most of which are now SUVs. However, living with this opulent sedan over the last three months has shown me that it has what it takes to sway buyers in its favour. Gigantic proportions and relatively low ground clearance aside, the BMW i7 is a pretty special EV, and I will miss having it in my parking spot.

　　Product Details

　　Make: BMW

　　Model: i7

　　Trim: eDrive50 M Sport

　　Fuel: Electric

　　Kilometres driven: 3,100km

　　Price when tested: Rs. 2.14 Crore, OTR, Mumbai