2022 BMW i4 M50 at Lightning Lap 2023

From the February/March 2023 issue of Car and Driver.

Lap Time: 3:04.7

Class: LL2 | Base: $69,395 | As-Tested: $82,820
Power and Weight: 536 hp • 5078 lb • 9.5 lb/hp
Tires: Pirelli P Zero PZ4 Elect; F: 255/35R-20 97Y, R: 285/30R-20 99Y

Electric vehicles are hitting the market in record numbers, but they’re far from well established at Lightning Lap. The i4 M50 is just the third EV we’ve run, following a 2015 Tesla Model S and a 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S (we would have run a Model S Plaid by now, but we don’t believe the stock brakes are up to the task).

The i4 can more or less match an M3 in our regular acceleration and braking metrics, but a lap of VIR taxes the entire vehicle for three minutes, and the i4 showed signs of wilting. First, it won’t make full power for a whole lap. An extremely cool out-lap helps, but while the i4 easily hummed along at its low, 128-mph top speed to start, at the finish line it only reached 116 mph, barely faster than the Carnival minivan. Furthermore, it restricted power until the steering wheel was pointed sufficiently straight, even with the stability control in its most lenient mode, hampering the car’s ability to accelerate out of corners and then punching us back in the seat as we unwound the wheel. Each 4.1-mile hot lap consumed about 20 percent of the i4’s state of charge and, as is typical for EVs, power drops off as the battery depletes, so it wasn’t productive to do more than one fast lap before hooking it up for a couple-hour recharge.

Despite all these caveats, the i4 still holds its own with a time 12.7 seconds better than the older Model S that went lame less than halfway through a lap and 9.5 seconds behind the Taycan’s no-issues effort. Although it’s nowhere near the M4’s lap, the i4 hangs through corners with the M340i we tested here in 2021 and trails it by a mere 1.5 seconds in overall lap time, despite the gas-powered 3-series’ dramatic speed advantage. The i4’s brake pedal stayed firm during three days of lapping, more so than the M240i’s, despite shedding more energy. The chassis is trusty, with no surprises, making it easy to acclimate to, and the car doesn’t feel as massive as its nearly full-size-pickup curb weight might suggest.

EVs still have a long way to go to prove themselves on track, but the i4 is a step in the right direction, especially considering it’s less than half the price of that Taycan.

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