The BMW i7 flagship saloon may soon get an armored version, Forbes reports quoting insiders. Allegedly, work is already in progress on such a version, and the premiere is penciled in for the Group of Seven meeting in Germany later this month.
There is no detailed information about the alleged BMW i7 Protection, which shapes up to become the Bavarian marque’s first all-electric armored car on record. Sources claim the company intends to manufacture and offer multiple variants of it differentiated by their protection grades (the lowest level will only provide defense against automatic pistols).
It remains to be seen how putting armor on a battery car will affect its dynamic performance and range. The only i7 spec available right now – the xDrive60 featured in our gallery and video here – packs dual motors rated at 544 PS (536 hp / 400 kW) and 745 Nm (550 lb-ft) of torque. It has 590 km (366 miles) of driving range and can sprint 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 4.7 seconds.
However, the same car also weighs 2,640 kilograms (5,820 pounds). CarBuzz believes that making it heavier would compromise the range. Adding batteries can only counteract it partly, because it would mean adding even more weight. The way things look right now, the armored EV might just end up considerably slower on the uptake than its normal counterpart.