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Originally Posted by stein_325i
Has it been confirmed if the i4 is a ground up EV or a shared platform? Or is it shared with the upcoming 4GC?
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It is most definitely an electric G26, just like the iX3 is an electric G01. These vehicles are the first manifestations of the corporate strategy to offer all types of drive for "every" vehicle in the lineup.
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I believe the iX is ground up, and the upcoming i7 and iX1 I would believe are shared platform since each mode will be receiving both ICE and EV powertrains but of course details are still a bit unknown.
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To the best of my ability to sift through the marketing smokescreen, I'm pretty convinced that the iX is actually a CLAR vehicle. The platform is, as near as I can tell, essentially the same one that will underpin the rest of the upcoming generation of BMWs, starting with the G70. That they will not offer gasoline, diesel, or PHEV iX models shouldn't by itself misguide us into thinking its something completely different. Once they hit the street, and we have more details, it should be possible to test this hypothesis.
Of course, the premise of a dedicated platform vs. an adapted legacy one will naturally have gray areas, so this could end up being a more difficult question to get a consensus on than one might think. Some degree of hair splitting is likely to take place, especially when other manufacturers (including Mercedes and Ford) are doing what might end up being similar things once all the technicalities are out in the open.
That being said, for now, BMW appears to be the only major player who doesn't seem to have any interest in developing a ground up EV platform to augment their transitional vehicle architectures sometime later this decade. Everyone else, it would appear, has at least some plans for true legacy-free vehicles over the next few years. But, aside from the i3 which has no future, BMW has been silent.