German premium motorcar manufacturer BMW has announced that the brand will be introducing the next-generation of its flagship sedan the BMW 7 Series with an all-electric powertrain. The BMW 7 Series is currently offered with a conventional petrol motor, a highly efficient diesel mill, an electrified plug-in hybrid engine and for the first time a Battery-powered electric powertrain (BEV) will be introduced in the future model.
The brand says that the next-generation 7 Series will be equipped with a fifth-generation electric powertrain but has not revealed any technical specifications or performance details of the fully-electric powertrain. The brand has recognized the growth in the electric vehicle segment which is predicted to double by 2021 and by 2025 the brand expects to see a sharp rise in sales growth of electrified vehicles.
The BMW 7 Series sedan sold in India comes with 4 trim options powered by one diesel engine and three petrol motor options including a high-performance M variant. The Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) counterpart is powered by the following engine options:-
BMW 730Ld, 730Ld DPE Signature and 730Ld M Sport
3.0-litre BMW TwinPower Turbo inline six-cylinder diesel engine that produces 265 hp of power and 620 Nm of torque matched to an 8-speed Steptronic automatic gearbox with the M Sport variant featuring the 8-speed Steptronic sport automatic transmission. The diesel engine can accelerate from 0-100 kmph in 6.2 seconds.
BMW 740Li DPE Signature
3.0-litre BMW TwinPower Turbo inline six-cylinder petrol engine that produces 340 hp of power and 450 Nm of torque matched to an 8-Speed Steptronic automatic transmission. The 740Li can sprint from 0-100 kmph in 5.6 seconds.
BMW 745Le xDrive
3.0-litre BMW TwinPower Turbo inline six-cylinder petrol engine that makes 286 hp of power and 450 Nm of torque from the ICE powertrain and 113 hp of power and 265 Nm of torque from the electric powertrain making a combined power output of 394 hp and a combined torque output of 600 Nm. The electric hybrid engine comes with an 8-Speed Steptronic automatic transmission mated to an xDrive – Intelligent 4-Wheel-Drive system with variable torque distribution. The 745Le xDrive can accelerate from 0-100 kmph in 5.3 seconds.
BMW 760Li xDrive
6.6-litre M Performance TwinPower Turbo V12-cylinder petrol engine that makes 609 hp of power and 850 Nm of torque matched to an 8-Speed Steptronic sport automatic transmission mated to an xDrive – Intelligent 4-Wheel-Drive system with variable torque distribution. The performance-oriented BMW 760Li xDrive can sprint to 100 kmph in 3.8 seconds from a standstill.
The next-generation BMW 7 Series is expected to arrive by 2023 when BMW also plans to introduce as much as 25 electrified models with more than half of them having a fully electrified powertrain. BMW plans to achieve this by having a farsighted vehicle architecture that can accommodate ICE, Hybrid or Electric powertrains and by having a highly adaptable production system.
