[carthick1000]

Driving impressions Kia EV6 and BMW i4

Having driven EV6 and i4 each for about 2 hours straight in the last few days, I can report how they both faired in everyday driving situations. As my daily drive is a model 3, I can also compare with this baseline but focus less on the EV related things as you can find more about it elsewhere and per use case.

Route

Took my usual test route, which comprises of sections of slow city traffic, a bit faster city traffic, rural B-roads, highway and of course the most fun of all, the winding roads on dikes. The route is same as I did for Ioniq 5 plus some extra stretches on the dikes to understand dynamics and the highway at different speeds (100~120kmph) to see how stable and quiet each car is.

Here is the route:


Size and storage



The trunk volume shown is excluding frunk/froot (front boot) volume for EV6 and model 3. i4, Sorry, no frunk. I4 is the longest of the lot, but has the shortest wheelbase. Thanks to it’s long nose, courtesy of non-electric platform, less passenger and luggage space of the lot. But both EV6 and i4 has a liftback style tailgate, which is much more practical than a model 3's sedan tailgate.

With EV6 being a ground up electric platform, the nose is very short and it helps in offering a good visibility out front. Also the muscular humps on bonnet help in locating the car better. On the other hand, the i4 with it’s (6-Cylinder ) long front nose does feel a bit cumbersome to drive in tighter spaces. Me and my wife felt that the model 3 is the best when it comes to front visibility, because of the shorter nose and a very low dashboard without any display to hide the front view.

Exact model variants driven

EV6 RWD 58kWh
I4 eDrive40 RWD 81kWh

Getting in and out

• In EV6, you are sitting a bit lower than Ioniq 5, but not as low as i4 or model 3. I didn’t notice any difference in i4 or model 3 for my seat height setting.
  
• For my height of 6’3” with relatively longer legs, EV6 has ample rear space even if I sit behind myself. In i4, sitting behind myself is impossible and the rear space is okay for people under 6’. If you are 6’ and have a long torso, the sloping roofline of i4 might brush against the hair. I have to droop a bit to fit myself in rear. So EV6 beats i4 fair and square. A rear facing child seat in i4 behind a tall driver or co-driver seat is impossible to fit. The Model 3 feels slightly a bit roomy at the rear than i4.
  
  
  
  
  
• I4’s frameless windows look cool, unlike EV6’s windows. Inspite of frameless design, BMW’s build quality is fantastic and the door thud says it all. EV6 doors feel heavy and the thud is as good as model 3’s. Here is a comparison between i4 and model 3 (watch till the end ).
  
  https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx01GE_2F...yQGmIHfUA_thuW
  
• When you get out of the car with the key in pocket, EV6 nags you to turn off the vehicle (ie push start stop button). Luckily BMW goes the tesla way and puts the vehicle in park and turns it off automatically.

Front Seats

i4’s Sport seats with adjustable under thigh support is a boon for tall drivers. EV6 has no such adjustment. Also i4 has better side bolstering than EV6.

Driving

• EV6 drives a bit sportier than Ioniq 5 but nowhere near i4. The i4 in comfort mode feels much better and planted than EV6. In sport mode, i4 drives like a proper BMW. In corners, I found the i4 a bit less agile than model 3 most likely due to the 500kg weight penalty of i4.
  
• The braking of EV6 is not very linear to pedal action. There is a very gradual slowdown and a sudden bite. I4’s brakes are pretty good. They respond to pedal actions in a linear way and the bite is very precisely controlled instead of sudden jolt.
  
• Though EV6 and i4 both have different drive modes (eco/comfort/sport), EV6 alters only the acceleration, but the suspension and steering remains the same. However, i4 in sport mode stiffens (rear) suspension and tightens the steering input/feedback. This makes it feel much dynamic and stable around corners. I wish model 3 has this as well. This is where i4 shines than most other mid size EV offerings.
  
• Because of the weight and standard rear air suspension, i4 seems much better sorted on the highways than the EV6. EV6 feels a bit like a ship in comparison to i4 and model 3.
  
• At 100-120kmph, i4 is phenomenally silent. Much better than EV6 and my model 3. I wonder how they got is so silent inspite of frameless windows. You can even listen to smallest details of music while driving at 120kmph.
  
• The audio system (optional Harman Kardon)in i4 is much better than the one in EV6. Model 3 is okay at best. Note that the subwoofer eats up some under trunk space in the i4.
  
• Lane changes and corners in sport mode feels pretty sweet in the i4. EV6 is bland and wavy when compared to i4 and my model 3.
  
• Steering response of EV6 leaves a lot to be desired. It is very synthetic. However, BMW nailed it, inspite of such a heavy car it feels pretty direct in sport mode and comfortable in comfort and eco modes.
  
• The acceleration of i4 (0-100kmph in 5.7s) feels much better than EV6, but not as explosive as model 3 (0-100kmph in 5.3s for my Standard range plus). The EV6 I drove is the slowest variant and hence it is not apples to apples comparison. The EV6 AWD variant (0-100kmph in 5.2s ) available in India might be the direct competitor for i4. Still I think i4 has a great trick up it’s sleeve compared to EV6 and even my model 3. BMW cleverly uses the rear air suspension to limit the dipping motions on heavy acceleration. So when you launch it, i4 almost doesn’t dip at the rear. This is pretty cool to experience, as my tesla always dips a bit at the rear on launches. I can’t really say for EV6, as the one I drove is not the fastest variant and I didn’t care to launch it.
  
• Individual driving mode is customizable in i4 for different drive modes. Say for eg. I can have comfort mode with only stiffer suspension instead of comfort for highway driving and sporty steering combined with eco mode, etc. EV6 is boring in that aspect. You can only use what modes are predefined.
  
• Iconic sounds package is very neatly implemented in i4. Eco pro is silent, Comfort mode has slight sound based on driving and Sport mode a much sporty electric grunt. I would call this a nice-to-have gimmick than the useless emission control/fart mode gimmick of Tesla. Enjoy the iconic sounds here:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wm4KjIuXMk

  
  
• Both EV6 and i4 has 3 (no-low-high) + 1 adaptive regenerative braking modes. EV6’s adaptive mode is iffy and BMW’s adaptive mode is slightly better than EV6. Best is the B mode of i4 as it can be selected from the Drive selector instead of going into a menu or using paddle shifters (EV6). With B mode you can use one pedal driving. If you want one pedal driving in EV6, the highest regenerative braking mode is the best bet. I would not bother using the adaptive modes on both cars.

Fast charging

With the current crop of fast chargers in India (max 50kW), there is almost no difference in charging times between EV6 and i4. Only when we get 350kW fast chargers in India, EV6 makes a difference. Otherwise, both i4 and EV6 play on same levelling field, ie. both can charge at 50kW almost from 0 to ~80%, when it comes to fast charging.








Niggles

• The biggest annoying thing about EV6 is it's driving position. At my height of 6'3" and with my comfortable steering and seat setting, I can't see the speed or the range in the instrument cluster. Here is a pic taken from my eye level:
  
  
  
• All climate control options on bmw i4 are on the main touchscreen. No dedicated buttons, knobs etc. It is much worse than Tesla’s as almost every time you select/type something on the top part of display you hit the temperature adjustment part. Good luck searching a destination without adjusting temperature.
  
  
  
• In i4, when you select sport/comfort/eco pro modes, the selected mode notification is shown in a full screen format on the main screen and stays there for few seconds. You can’t use that screen until it goes off by itself. It is like the moment you fall down (say from a bicycle) and you know it is going to hurt, but you can’t do much about it
  
• At start, EV6 always crawls on releasing the brake pedal. There is no way to stop it from crawling. Whereas BMW has the B mode (gear selector to Drive and then to B) which prevents it to crawl and a very useful feature for one pedal driving. Anyone using electric car knows that it is more comfortable not to crawl when releasing brake pedal. Since the B mode is only applicable in D, while reversing you can use the auto hold functionality in i4 to use the single pedal driving. Unlike EV6, i4 remembers the previous auto hold setting on next drive.
  
• I set the lane departure warning to OFF in EV6. For the next drive, it came back to ON automatically. Though safe, annoying at best as EV6 can't seem to remember some of the last settings.
  
• Kia EV6 has the climate menu hidden in the separate touch interface below the main screen and it alternates with the infotainment menu using a toggle. Luckily some basic climate functionalities remain unchanged while toggling. I would say this is much better than i4’s climate control positioning.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• There is no dedicated button in EV6 to open the rear tailgate. You have to do it in the display. Whereas i4 has it neatly tucked in the bottle holder area in the driverside door.
  
• Buttons in i4 are logically positioned than in EV6. For eg. steering heating is on the steering wheel (below horn) itself in the i4, whereas on EV6 it is in the center console.
  
  
  
  
  
• Both i4 and EV6 both have relatively decent navigation systems, but the maps are not as good as the model 3. Searching for destinations and adding waypoints is also a bit cumbersome in both i4 and EV6. Relatively speaking i4 is a tad bit better than EV6, but not far off.
  
• Similar to Ioniq 5, EV6 has a lot of beeps and bongs which is pretty distracting. I4 is typical BMW.

Win for i4

• Driving dynamics. It can be both a comfortable cruiser as well as a sporty sedan.
• Super silent at high speeds
• Predefined and configurable drive modes which alters acceleration, steering and suspension
• Fit and finish
• B mode for single pedal driving
• Remembers previous settings on start unlike EV6.
• Supremely comfortable front seats

Win for EV6

• Rear seat space
• Bigger boot
• Lounge like front seat area
• Vehicle to load
• Charging speed (IF we get very high speed chargers (>200kW) in India)
• Ground up EV platform constitutes for better space management and visibility

Driving both these cars have made me realise that Tesla's first principle design made a car/EV so easy, spacious and functional without compromising on fun to drive quotient. If I were to pick one among the two, i4 would be my choice. EV6 does nothing better than i4 or my model 3 for an enthusiast’s daily driver. If BMW can make such a good electric car out of a non electric platform, I wonder what they could do with a ground up EV platform.

Some pointers for women drivers from my wife’s point of view

• She found the EV6 much roomy and easier to drive around than i4.
• She felt i4 a bit claustrophobic coming from a model 3. EV6 is much better in terms of space and roominess.
• Also the sheer length of i4’s nose combined with that wide screen is pretty much a no-go for my wife, when it comes to narrow parkings/driveways.
• She liked i4 for being very silent on the highway and of course for it’s fit and finish
• Unlike i4, EV6 had a lot of space under center console for her handbag.
• She also misses the full size frunk in i4 and EV6. In Tesla model 3, the frunk is our space to store soft luggage and doubles up as diaper changing station for our 2yo daughter on long trips.

Thanks for reading patiently

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

Driving impressions Kia EV6 and BMW i4

…
Thanks for reading patiently

Thank you for writing it out superbly. No patience is required when the content is superlative.

One question please. Exactly how much of an issue do you reckon is the ground clearance on the i4.

Would it cause serious problems (if you could hazard a guess) on typical Indian metro roads like Mumbai / Bangalore etc?

Thanks in advance.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

Driving impressions Kia EV6 and BMW i4

Great review, worthy of a thread on its own.

I4’s frameless windows look cool, unlike EV6’s windows. Inspite of frameless design, BMW’s build quality is fantastic and the door thud says it all. EV6 doors feel heavy and the thud is as good as model 3’s. Here is a comparison between i4 and model 3

People who buy demo cars need to see the video for sure; I hope the Kia and BMW dealerships who gave you test drive cars don't know about this video

At 100-120kmph, i4 is phenomenally silent. Much better than EV6 and my model 3. I wonder how they got is so silent inspite of frameless windows. You can even listen to smallest details of music while driving at 120kmph.

The quality of everything they use and the engineering behind a BMW. I find Tesla most annoying in this respect.


Please also share your view on self-driving features as compared with Tesla?

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by Axe77

One question please. Exactly how much of an issue do you reckon is the ground clearance on the i4.

Would it cause serious problems (if you could hazard a guess) on typical Indian metro roads like Mumbai / Bangalore etc?

As far as the ground clearance goes :

3 series 147mm,
4 series gran coupe 140mm
i4 125mm
911 125mm
Cayman 120mm

My point being, If 911s and Caymans are driving in Mumbai/Pune/BLR, why not i4? Moreover, the battery is a structural component with some solid enclosures. So some amount of scraping or abuse should do no harm to the structural integrity, as long as driven carefully. However, it is better to prepare mentally before getting an i4

As far as my test drive goes, the roads here is NL are pretty good (second best in the world followed by Singapore) with well defined speed bumps. Only few dike roads had some wide speed bumps, but they too are not like the sharp and big ones we encounter in India. Even hitting those flowing speed bumps at 70-80kmph did not bottom out the i4 or scrape. So I would not bother much except if I live in a street / drive on a road with speed bumps very often, which leads to the car scraping every time I pass that.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Great review, worthy of a thread on its own.

Please also share your view on self-driving features as compared with Tesla?

Thanks

Out of the total distance, I would have covered 10-15km in both EV6 and i4 with the adaptive cruise control on highways and in few places around the rural section where it is stop and go traffic. Both EV6 and i4 worked as good as Tesla in terms of detecting lane markings, staying within lane and adjusting to stop and go traffic based on distance.

I found the EV6 nervous in some stop and go situations, whereas i4 got once disengaged with a warning, but for no reason on the highway. Both test drives were on clear sunny days and the heavy shadows too did not bother both the cars, when I drove under a certain bridge, which triggers a false positive sometimes with my Tesla.

Overall, I would say all cars are good enough to keep you relaxed on highway drives with proper lane markings. Regarding controls, I find the model 3 the easiest to engage, disengage and pause/continue as it is all done with the drive mode selection lever. However, for i4 and EV6 the engage/disengage and pause/resume are different buttons. But I guess, with muscle memory we get used to them too. The annoying thing about Tesla is it does not have a normal cruise control like the i4 or EV6, which means it is always looking for obstacles and slows down sometimes for heavy shadows. Still the total distance I drove is very less and weather condition is ideal, it is hard to make any conclusions on how each system performs.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

As far as the ground clearance goes :

3 series 147mm,
4 series gran coupe 140mm
i4 125mm
911 125mm
Cayman 120mm

My point being, If 911s and Caymans are driving in Mumbai/Pune/BLR, why not i4? Moreover, the battery is a structural component with some solid enclosures. So some amount of scraping or abuse should do no harm to the structural integrity, as long as driven carefully. However, it is better to prepare mentally before getting an i4

Thanks Carthick. This answers my question perfectly. Personally, having been spoilt by the ridiculously practical 3GT and never having to even think of the crater like speed breakers in our cities, this is something that’d make me think twice. A friend who owns a 530d in my neighbourhood actually doesn’t take one of the more convenient routes home because of the awful speedbreakers (2 of them) less than 500 mtrs away from my home. Similar stories from some other low slung sedan owners who live around the area.

I would really prefer to have any vehicle with at least a decent enough level of ground clearance that does not warrant 911 level of babying on account of road conditions. Yes, its workable with a little bit of care, but can get a bit annoying too to be constantly watchful of.

I hope that in times to come, these cars are Indianised a bit and given a little more ground clearance if that is practicable.

Thanks again for the detailed response - very helpful indeed.

[XDriver]

Thqnks Carthick for great comparison review. For me it's the i4 any given day but for that 125mm GC. I have a 530d and it does bottom out occasionally if I am not careful. So that low GC is a deal breaker here in Hyderabad. As it has air suspension, wish we could raise the height like the 630d or X5.

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing, carthick1000! Moving your post out to a new thread. A new thread means 100X the views & 100X the visibility in search engines, including Google. Will add to homepage later this week .

@ BHPians, if you should spot any good post in an existing thread that deserves its own new thread, please report the post and we'll move it out for greater visibility.

Thank you!

[carthick1000]

MISSED UPDATE (useful for iphone users):

BMW i4 has wireless Apple car play but EV6 has only a wired version.

The integration of BMW's wireless apple car play is very seamless and if you use apple maps, the navigation shows not only on the main screen, but also on instrument panel and headsup display. Compared to BMW's native navigation, I found the apple maps much better visually and easy to use. Also you can use the rotary iDrive controller to move through apps and is very useful while driving. And BMW's digital key is supported only by select Apple devices (only recent models of iphone and watch). Bit disappointing for android users is that only select models of Android phones (Samsung and Google I think) are supported.

For such an advanced EV, Kia uses wired apple car play . So I didn't bother to check.

[Porcupine]

Amazing and much awaited review! Seems from your review the i4 is better planned in terms of interior ergonomics, possibly owing to the fact that it's based on the 4-series?

I understand the i4 still has a hump for the transmission tunnel at the rear due to the above fact, what was your view of the EV6? Does it have a flat floor for the 5th passenger?

Originally Posted by carthick1000

My point being, If 911s and Caymans are driving in Mumbai/Pune/BLR, why not i4?

I'm assuming it's something to do with the wheelbase. I've owned a 718 Cayman since 2018, and it rarely ever scaled the speed breakers here in Mumbai if navigated carefully. But that's mostly likely got to do with its short wheelbase.

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by Porcupine

Seems from your review the i4 is better planned in terms of interior ergonomics, possibly owing to the fact that it's based on the 4-series?

I understand the i4 still has a hump for the transmission tunnel at the rear due to the above fact, what was your view of the EV6? Does it have a flat floor for the 5th passenger?

If you sit inside an i4, it feels almost the same as an LCI 3 series with the wide curved display running iDrive 8. 4 series gran coupe is still using the previous iDrive 7 live cockpit setup, however the rest of the i4 is identical to 4 gran coupe, except for the ground clearance. Front seat ergonomics is spot on, but the rear room is not that great for large adults.

In comparison, EV6 feels much roomier inside both front and rear. The floor is flat for the 5th passenger, but the seat is a bit raised in the middle and not as comfortable for long drives as the left and right ones.

[dragracer567]

Thanks for this. While I am not immediately considering a purchase, it is something I plan to do in 6-10 months.

Based on the reviews atleast, I expected the EV6 to perform better than the i4. Perhaps you could help me with these questions:

1) How would you assess the real-world range of the three cars - Model 3, EV6 and i4? Do you remember the approximate km/kwh?

2) As an existing Tesla owner, do you feel comfortable taking a non-Tesla car over long distances without the Tesla supercharger network backing you up?

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by dragracer567

it is something I plan to do in 6-10 months.

If you are in Europe, then you should already be placing the orders, as EV6 here in NL takes 8-12 months and i4 (eDrive40) about 6-9 months to deliver.

Originally Posted by dragracer567

1) How would you assess the real-world range of the three cars - Model 3, EV6 and i4? Do you remember the approximate km/kwh?

I usually refer to the range test values of the Norwegian EV vlogger Bjorn Nyland. His tests are very realistic and he does tests both in winter and summer for most EVs in the European market. He also documents the range test (+ other tests like space, noise etc.) values in his publicly shared sheets. This gives a very good indication.

Personally, after living with an EV for few years now, I really dont bother about range now-a-days. Only on the days when I am going on longer trips, I check for the chargers enroute (abetterrouteplanner) to make sure I can reach the destination. As a rule of thumb, I just remember that in winter my model 3 has a range of about 280km and about 350km in summer. Before I bought the model 3, the efficiency, range etc. were on top of my mind. But once you get comfortable with that and you know what your vehicle is capable of, then it is just like how we get used to the fuel gauge of an ICE car.

Originally Posted by dragracer567

2) As an existing Tesla owner, do you feel comfortable taking a non-Tesla car over long distances without the Tesla supercharger network backing you up?

Recently Tesla started opening up their superchargers to other EVs too, esp. in Europe. What remained as a USP of Tesla few years ago is now even more approachable by all EVs. So, I would not bother much choosing another brand over Tesla. AFAIK not all Tesla superchargers stalls are open to other EVs, atleast in NL. Until that time, a Tesla would be much sensible choice for people who make longer trips often. If more than 80% of your trips are within the range of an EV, then any brand should do. Now-a-days, there are a lot of options to choose from. For me, any EV with 300km in winter is more than enough.

[venom_op]

I believe this would play a big factor in the decision making in this discussion. BMW I4 scores 4 star in Euro NCAP.

https://https://www.motor1.com/news/...p-results/amp/

[mobike008]

Excellent review and thanks for sharing the feedback so much in detail. It helps to know what to expect if either of these vehicles is in consideration.

Owning a BMW, I too expect a much higher level of quality which none of competition (including Tesla) seems to offer. I guess the biggest compromise would be to ignore "level of quality" offered and focus on other positive aspects of the car if deciding a non-BMW EV vehicle.

I doubt any of the New Kids on the Block can match the big 3 Germans with respect to quality. Having said that, it also comes at a price as all these OEM's go with an alacarte model which is ridiculous despite charging so much. I love the pay one price and get everything model.

As you own a Tesla Model 3 (Is it a Long Range or Performance?), let me put you in a bit of a quandary.

if given a choice to buy an EV again. What would you choose and why?

Tesla Model 3
BMW i4
Or, EV 6 GT Line

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by mobike008

As you own a Tesla Model 3 (Is it a Long Range or Performance?), let me put you in a bit of a quandary.

if given a choice to buy an EV again. What would you choose and why?

Tesla Model 3
BMW i4
Or, EV 6 GT Line

Thanks for your kind words.

Indeed it is a dilemma, but mostly between Model 3 and i4. Other than extra space, EV6 GT Line offers everything less (Performance, Handling dynamics, Technology on board and ease of use) compared to Model 3 and i4. The 350kW charging might be the only outlier, but living with an EV for 3+ years have taught me that you cannot get 350kW charging stations everywhere and also u really don't need anything more than 150~200kW.. That is already much faster. Anyway getting back to my choice.

What?
Tesla model 3 (Standard Range +)

Why?

I will try to answer this with what I wished to have in each car, which the other one does not have

Wish to have in model 3:
- Adjustable dampers
- Cabin noise isolation (Heard that newer model 3's have double walled glasses and hence I need to check) and quality
- Liftback tailgate
- Some physical switches (eg. Dashboard open/close)
- Iconic sounds by Hans Zimmer

Wish to have in i4;
- An agile and a lighter weight (i4 is about 2200kg and 4 series gran coupe is 1700kgs. Model 3 SR+ is 1740kg)
- A good visibility out front (Probably you will know what I mean when you sit inside an i4 and model 3 back to back. My wife was/is totally against i4 mainly for this reason)
- Less overwhelming cabin (May be this is because of living with a model 3, we started enjoying clutter free spaces in the car. i4 has a lot of vents, textures, lamp designs etc. etc. going on. It is overall busy within the cabin. For BMW users, it might not be a big deal I guess)
- Better rear space to accomodate 2 grown adults (or) 1 adult + 1 rear facing child seat.
- Frunk
- Network of fast chargers (This might soon change as Tesla is opening it's supercharger network to all OEMs)
- Feeling of space and openness in the cabin


I have had a BMW (3 series) in the past and can relate to BMW's ethos of car making. But living with a Tesla changed a lot of things about how efficient/ease of use a car can be. Hence if I make some small compromises like a little less quality in fit and finish (Tesla is not that bad as mostly projected on media. Though not on par with BMW or Lexus, but still better than most other OEMs), do away with adjustable dampers or the iconic sounds, I think Tesla model 3 is a better EV overall.

For someone coming from a BMW (eg. you), i4 feels right at home. But I sincerely recommend taking the Tesla route for your next lease, as it is available in US. If I were in India, then my obvious pick would be i4 hands down.