BMW i4 Coupe And i5 Sedan Next In Line: Report

That BMW will eventually expand its range of electrified and hybridised i cars is almost a given. But with the i3 city car and i8 sports car still more than a year out from their market debut, it will likely be sometime before BMW lets on with what's coming next.

Of course, that won't stop the rumour mill, and new reports out of Europe this week suggest that the most obvious additions to the i line-up are exactly what BMW is cooking up.

Dubbed i4 and i5, the new models will reportedly bring a larger and more family-oriented sedan to the range, along with a more affordable (and less 'out there') coupe.

The sedan is expected to feature a swept-back coupe-like profile (think Tesla Model S), drawing power from the same petrol-electric hybrid arrangement powering the i8.

In the i8, power is provided by a 164kW 1.5 litre three-cylinder petrol engine, paired with a 96kW electric motor. BMW says the i8 will offer a 0-100km/h time of "under five seconds," but the larger sedan would likely target the seven to eight second range.

For the small and 'affordable' i4 coupe, power will reportedly come from the i3's all-electric drivetrain, producing 125kW and 250Nm of torque. 

In the case of the i3, the 0-100km/h run is listed at 7.9 seconds, meaning the potentially lighter coupe could manage the hop in somewhere around six to seven seconds.

Both models would likely feature the same separated 'life' and 'drive' architectures, while also utilising the lightweight and strong carbon fibre-reinforced plastics that feature in the construction of the i3 and i8.

If given the green-light, the new models would likely not arrive until closer to the end of this decade.