Written by | Little devil
The war over luxury electric sedans continues to heat up, and the Tesla Model S may be the first pioneer in this market, but Porsche has also launched the beautiful Taycan, and Lucid has brought Air. Soon this field has welcomed competitors such as the Audi e-Tron GT and the Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan, and this month the BMW i7 has also joined the feast.
As more and more players join, what kind of cards have traditional car companies and new forces mastered in this million-level market competition? What are the shortcomings of each, we will take you through these products to understand.
BMW i7
BMW is an early investor in electric technology, as early as 2013 and 2014, it has launched a compact electric vehicle i3 and plug-in hybrid sports car i8, although it has not achieved success in the eyes of the world, but it is undeniable in the field of electrification it has been bolder and more exploratory than Mercedes-Benz and Audi.
However, the failure of the i3 and i8 also made BMW recognize the fact that electrification cannot be too idealistic. Therefore, after reformulating its electrification strategy, BMW became more pragmatic and decided to use the coexistence of oil and electricity to build electric vehicles.
That's right, the new i3, i4, iX3, iX, and this i7 are not standalone models built on a dedicated EV architecture, which means they are spatially weaker than those dedicated platform cars. For example, the newly launched i7, which is the largest three-dimensional size of several electric cars we talked about today, but its 3215mm wheelbase is not more dominant than the Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan.
In BMW's family positioning, the i7 is not a standalone model, it is an electric version of the new 2023 G70 7 series, of course, this car also provides six cylinders and V8 gasoline power. Inside BMW, they hope the i7 xDrive60 will become the new flagship of the 7 Series, replacing the fuel-fuel V12 models of the past, at least initially.
The i7 xDrive60 is a dual-motor configuration with a front motor power of 190kW and a rear motor of 229kW, which together can produce a combined power and torque output of 400kW and 745Nm, which can support the acceleration of this large sedan in 4.5 seconds from 0-100km/h, and even with the support of advanced driver assistance technology, it can also drive at speeds of up to 129km/h.
Later, BMW will also launch the top performance i7 M70 xDrive, which is said to provide more than 441kW of output power and more than 1000 Nm of combined torque, and accelerate 100 km/h to less than 4.0 seconds.
The 101.7kWh battery pack located under the floor supports up to 195kW of charging power, which is not as high as other electric vehicles, but BMW says this charging speed can replenish the power of 129 kilometers of battery life in 10 minutes.
At present, the large battery does not provide a greater endurance advantage for the car, BMW official said that the car's EPA working life is expected to be 483km, compared to the Endurance of the Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan has a big gap, of course, compared to Tesla, Lucid is even less advantageous.
However, in the author's opinion, other issues are not big problems, and the choice of i7 or not is mainly based on whether the buyer can accept its front face that does not conform to the mainstream aesthetic.
Mercedes-Benz EQS
Mercedes-Benz started later than BMW in the field of electric vehicles, after completing the test of the electric field with EQC, EQA, EQB and other models, Mercedes-Benz soon realized that the high-end market can not play like this, only the electric vehicles built on the special platform are likely to have the capital favored by high-end users, so Mercedes-Benz has created an EVA platform for large electric vehicles, and the EQS car has also become the first product of this platform.
One of the biggest advantages of the electric vehicle-specific platform - space, which is most obvious in the Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan, under the premise that the body length is 178mm shorter than the i7, its wheelbase is only 5mm smaller than the former, reaching 3210mm, which can be said to bring the best spatial performance in the same class.
In terms of power, the EQS sedan also offers a wide range of options. Including the 246kW single-motor rear-drive version of the EQS 450; the maximum power of 385kW EQS 580 is a dual-motor four-wheel drive configuration; the 484kW AMG EQS with higher demand for power is optional, and it also adjusts the battery pack system to speed up the battery discharge speed and make power release faster.
If it's not exciting enough, you can even opt for the AMG Dynamic Plus kit, and in boost mode, the output power of the electric sedan will be pushed to 560kW, and the zero hundred acceleration will be reduced to 3.4 seconds.
All EQS models are equipped with the same 107.8kWh battery pack, and depending on the motor configuration, the car's EPA endurance range is between 547 km and 563 km, which is currently the highest endurance performance electric vehicle among several traditional manufacturers.
In terms of charging, since the car is built on a 400V electrical architecture, the maximum charging power that can be supported is 200kW, but the car can restore about 144 kilometers of battery life in 10 minutes, which is not bad.
In addition to battery life and power, the 56-inch Hyperscreen large screen based on the latest MBUX interactive system is the biggest surprise brought by Mercedes-Benz to users, but relatively speaking, due to the lack of rear optional large screens, the treatment of rear passengers is weaker than that of BMW i7.
Audi e-tron GT
Audi is a sub-brand of the Volkswagen Group, and it does not need to go it alone like Mercedes-Benz and BMW in terms of technology. Under the advantages of the group, it can enjoy more technical and resource support from different brother brands, such as Audi's Q4 is based on Volkswagen's MEB platform, e-tron GT is based on Porsche's J1 platform, and Audi will have more products from more advanced PPE platforms in the future.
In addition to styling, the e-tron GT and Porsche Taycan are not much different in terms of technology, because both were born on the J1 platform.
Strictly speaking, J1 is not an electric platform developed from zero, it is actually transformed from Volkswagen's MSB fuel vehicle platform, which is essentially a transitional platform, so the e-tron GT also has certain innate deficiencies, such as space and endurance, but because J1 itself is a high-performance electric vehicle platform, the car has a strong performance in terms of power and charging performance.
The e-tron GT has a vehicle size similar to that of the Taycan, and the wheelbase of both is 2900mm. In terms of power, it offers only two options and a higher starting point because it is to be distinguished from Porsche.
The car's entry-level power is comparable to the Taycan 4S, equipped with a dual-motor four-wheel drive system, providing a comprehensive power and torque output of 350kW and 630Nm, and in overdrive mode, the power and torque can be increased to 390kW and 640Nm respectively, enabling the vehicle to achieve a 100-kilometer acceleration of 4.1 seconds.
Slightly inferior to the Taycan Turbo, the RS model has a combined power and torque output of 440kW and 830Nm, and in supercharged mode, the 475kW power output can make the car reach a 3.3-second 100.
In terms of charging, since the e-tron GT uses an 800V high-voltage fast charging system, it can increase the power from 5% to 80% in 23 minutes, which is very fast.
But like we said earlier, it also has some native drawbacks that will disappoint those who want to buy a smart electric luxury sedan, such as the 93.4kWh battery pack that only provides 383 km of EPA life, and the rear seat space is also very limited.
Porsche Taycan
The Porsche Taycan is the first model created on the J1 platform, technically identical to the previously mentioned e-tron GT, with similar advantages and disadvantages, which will not be repeated here.
Compared with the Audi e-tron GT, its greater advantage is that the choice of power and battery is more abundant, and the performance of the top version of the Taycan Turbo S is also stronger than that of Audi, which can reduce the score of breaking the hundred to less than 3 seconds.
On the battery, because Porsche provides a lower capacity of the 79.2kWh version, which brings the price of the entry-level single electric rear-drive Taycan down to $83,000, which may seem to some consumers to be able to buy an electric Porsche at such a "low" price.
In fact, in terms of shape and performance, the Porsche Taycan and its Audi e-tron GT cousin are more like four-door coupes than ordinary electric cars like BMW and Mercedes-Benz, so they will indeed attract some potential buyers of sports cars.
Of course, these two cars will indeed be better than the i7 and EQS in terms of linear acceleration and handling pleasure, but don't expect them to provide the comfort, tranquility, rear space and battery life of the i7 and EQS cars.
Tesla Model S
Model S, which has a history of nearly a decade, is a well-deserved "originator" of electric luxury cars, whether other car companies admit it or not, they all use Model S as a reference standard when building cars.
And it is a pity that after such a long period of efforts, the electric vehicles built by traditional car companies have indeed failed to fully surpass the Model S in terms of performance and endurance, the two hard-core indicators that consumers care about most.
The 2960mm wheelbase means that the Model S does offer less rear space than bmw and Mercedes-Benz electric sedans, but it definitely doesn't have the distance it can travel on a single charge. The new Model S is only available in two models, including the long-endurance version with dual motors with a combined output of 493 kW, an EPA range of 652 km/h and a 3.2-second acceleration of 100 km/h.
The high-performance Plaid version of the model is a three-motor configuration, supported by 760kW of powerful output power, the car can complete the hundred in only 2.1 seconds, and what is more serious is that it has not been too serious endurance reduction, and its EPA range is 637 kilometers, which is an unparalleled existence in the field of electric vehicles.
Both cars are equipped with 100kWh batteries, tesla's exclusive V3 charging pile can reach a maximum of 250kW charging power, 15 minutes can make up for about 300 kilometers of battery life, charging performance is also stronger than other luxury electric vehicles.
Of course, this is not to say that the car is without flaws, in addition to the aforementioned rear space, you have to put up with its not-so-delicate workmanship and not-so-grade materials.
Lucid Air
Traditional automakers like BMW and Mercedes aren't the only brands that want a piece of the pie from Tesla. The new brand, Lucid, founded by former Model S engineers, has now become Tesla's rival.
Starting at $77,400, the Lucid Air series is an entry-level model with a single-motor rear-drive configuration that offers a maximum power of 358kW and an EPA range of 657 km, which should be sufficient for most people. In addition, people who can't tolerate Tesla's minimalist interior style and materials can also find enough comfort on the Air.
For a small number of people who are not bad money, the Grand Touring Performance Edition with 783kW output and 725 km EPA endurance is their goal, because it is the most powerful electric car on the market at present, although the acceleration performance of this car is slightly inferior to the Model S Plaid version, but the 2.6-second zero-hundred acceleration is not easy for other electric cars to surpass.
If you are willing to sacrifice a little acceleration, choose the Grand Touring version with 3.0 seconds to break the hundred, with 19-inch rims, it can even support an incredible 830 km EPA endurance, which is the highest endurance performance that can be achieved under current EPA conditions.
However, it should be pointed out that although the Lucid Air can provide such a strong endurance performance, although it is inseparable from Peter Rollinson's efforts in the energy efficiency of electric traditional systems over the years, it is also equipped with a 113kWh battery pack with a higher power than the Model S.
The biggest drawback of Lucid Air is not the car itself, but that its company is still in its early stages, unlike Tesla and other traditional luxury brands that have relatively complete factory construction and supporting supply chains, and the car only has two delivery points in the Americas and Europe. 【iDailycar】