Its metallic blue paint looking good in the afternoon sun, the 745Le sits outside the main entrance of the Celtic Manor resort, on show to welcome our guests to the 2021 Professional Driver QSi Awards.
The car earned its keep on the day, ferrying display boards, PPE kits and trophies to the event. Just as many drivers have had to diversify into goods deliveries, our 7-series was also pressed into service as a light commercial!
It would be a good night for the 7-series, as you can read in this issue, with the big Beemer recapturing the Chauffeur Car of the Year Award from the winner in 2018 and 2019, the Audi A8L.
With Mercedes unable to offer a plug-in hybrid, and Audi suffering superconductorrelated supply shortages, the 7-series remains the only game in town for chauffeurs. You can register one with TfL – but since October 25, all PHEVs have been liable to pay London’s £15 a day congestion charge for entering the central area of the City and West End.
Unfortunately, in the absence of a realistic electric chauffeur car, everyone’s in the same boat – indeed, a PHEV is treated no more favourably than a Euro 6 diesel in C-Charge terms.
Fortunately, electric chauffeur cars are just around the corner. We’ve seen the MercedesBenz EQV, and now BMW has revealed some shots of a disguised i7 undergoing coldweather testing.
The two cars make an interesting comparison. Mercedes has gone out of its way
It will be interesting to see how this pans out in the market. Will chauffeurs be lured by the three-pointed star, or will a more conventional body have an advantage?
Clearly, not all clients want a low roof line – ease of entry and exit is of vital importance, and low-roofed cars have always been at a disavantage – it was a big problem for the last Jaguar XJ.
The availability of the 745Le PHEV has really helped BMW in the sector. It has made significant gains, and that has somewhat eroded Mercedes’ dominance in the chauffeur sector.
Even that restyled front from 2019, derided at the time because of the size of the kidney grille, now looks normal – if anything the grilles of older 7-series look a bit undernourished. Crucially, it made the 7-series look a lot more imposing and less like a grown-up 3-series.
It’ll be interesting to see the final treatment of the i7. As an EV, it doesn’t need a “grille” – so maybe it’ll be the nose that distinguishes the i7 from the regular 7. We won’t have long to wait – it’ll be with us in 2022.
