BMW i4 electric sedan falls short of five-star ANCAP safety rating

The BMW i4 electric sedan has received a four-star ANCAP safety rating.

It is part of the first batch of vehicles to have a score released in 2023, joining the Peugeot 308 – which also fell short of a five-star score – and the top-scoring GWM Ora, Alfa Romeo Tonale and Citroen C5 X.

This score applies to all variants of the BMW i4, first launched in Australia in March 2022.

The result is based on testing conducted by sister organisation Euro NCAP in 2022.

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It scored 87 per cent for adult occupant protection (33.30 out of 38 points), 89 per cent for child occupation protection (43.62 out of 49 points), 71 per cent for vulnerable road user protection (38.66 out of 54 points) and 62 per cent for safety assist (10.07 out of 16 points).

A safety assist score of at least 70 per cent is required to obtain a five-star safety rating.

While the related, internal-combustion BMW 3 Series and two-door 4 Series have five-star ANCAP safety ratings, this is based on less-stringent testing conducted in 2019.

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The four-door BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe – the internal-combustion twin to the i4 – remains untested.

ANCAP said the active safety equipment fitted to local i4 examples is improved compared to European versions – including junction assist for its autonomous emergency braking system – but BMW Australia didn't provide a vehicle for local assessment.

"BMW advised ANCAP that the AEB and lane support systems fitted to locally-specified vehicles is of a higher standard than the systems tested in Europe, yet BMW did not put the vehicle forward to ANCAP for verification testing to confirm performance of these systems," said ANCAP.

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It also noted the lack of a front-centre airbag, which can prevent a potentially deadly head clash between the driver and front passenger in a side-impact collision.

Standard safety equipment includes; autonomous emergency braking with junction assist, lane departure warning, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear-cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control with a speed limiter, and traffic sign recognition.

Six airbags (dual frontal, side head and side chest) are fitted as standard.

During the electric vehicle summit in Canberra in mid-2022, ANCAP called for proposed Federal Government incentives to only apply to vehicles with the highest safety rating.