BMW's Electric Assault Just Got More Interesting

The writing is on the wall and BMW, like every automaker, knows it. We've entered the end of the combustion engine era though an exact kill date has yet to be decided. Expect it to be a gradual phase-out in favor of pure battery electrics. Instead of immediately discontinuing gas-powered Bimmers like the5 Seriesand7 Series, Munich has decided it'll begin selling all-electric variants alongside them beginning next year.

Details about the i5 andi7still remain closely guarded secrets but the folks atAutoMotor und Sporthave uncovered some interesting information. We'll consider them rumors for now but this does sound legitimate.

Supposedly, the i7 (pictured here) will feature dual electric motors at the rear axle and a less powerful one up front. There's a good chance this setup will find its way into the i5 and, later on, the i5 M. The i7 should be able to accommodate a 120-kWh battery, which will provide more than enough juice to deliver a total of around 750 horsepower. Anearlier reporthad this figure pegged at 650 hp.

To compare, the latest M5 has a maximum of 617 hp in Competition guise. As for the i5, it'll share the same CLAR platform as the gas-powered model. BMW has the same formula for the also CLAR-based 4 Series Gran Coupe and i4.