The revolution starts here

Mark Bursa

My day begins in familiar surroundings – in a BMW 745le. I ran one of these cars for several months last year, and I know how comfortable it is. Even so, the dashboard is starting to look a little dated, with its modest satnav screen.

Today I’m not driving. Instead I’m being chauffeured by our newly crowned QSi Chauffeur Company of the Year, Chabé, and I’m on a journey into the future.

It’s a future that starts, it appears, in Farnborough. Arriving at BMW’s head office, we’re met by a familiar face – Lee Connolly, BMW’s National Specialist Sales Manager – and a less familiar shape. Parked outside the front door is the car that could transform the chauffeur market, and give BMW a much bigger say in the sector – the i7.

Today, I’m along for the ride with Chabé, as the company Managing Director David Bruce is spending the day in London, showing the i7 to some of Chabé’s most prestigious hotel clients.

Chabé is a launch customer for the i7 in the chauffeur sector. Six cars are on order, and with a price tag of above £110,000, that’s a substantial investment, and commitment to the BMW brand.

This is not without risks – in the market in which Chabé operates, many of the customers – especially those from the Middle East and Asia – are extremely Mercedes-centric. Perhaps with some justification, the S-Class, and the three pointed star on its grille, was always perceived as carrying a slight premium over other premium brands.

However, there is evidence that is changing – and part of that is down to Mercedes’ own product strategy.

Mercedes launched its large electric car earlier this year – but the EQS has met with a lukewarm reaction from chauffeurs. It’s a brilliant drive, for sure – but there’s no long-wheelbase option; the coupe-like roof line offers restricted headroom in the rear, and it inexplicably has a hatchback tailgate, not a conventional boot. It’s a technical tour de force – but from a chauffeur’s perspective, it’s not an S-Class.

It appears BMW has done a better job of reading the room as far as chauffeurs’ needs are concerned. The imminent arrival of the i7 will most likely give Munich a crucial advantage over Stuttgart in the EV sector. Unlike the EQS, i7 is not a separate product. It’s an electric 7-series – complete with long wheelbase and everything you’d expect from a luxury saloon.

The arrival of the car is the culmination of a BMW strategy to address the chauffeur market that started several years ago, says Lee Connolly.

“A few years ago we were constantly faced with opposition to the 7-series from chauffeurs. It was very much the underdog compared to market leader.” Analysis of the problem boiled down to a perception that the 7 was not as luxurious as the S-Class. And part of that was caused by chauffeurs wanting to save money by specifying the most basic model to save money, rather than spending more on features.

“We worked with chauffeurs and promoted our available options to them – and that has taken current car up to the benchmark level,” says Connolly. “We specified the most impactful features design-wise – so when the rear door opens, the customer thinks ‘that looks good’. And now we’re finding that chauffeur clients are starting to request the 7-series.”

It helped that BMW had an affordable PHEV version of the 7-series, the 745Le, in its range since 2018, while Mercedes didn’t bring in the S580eL PHEV until more than a year after the launch of the new S-Class in 2020. It’s clear that some chauffeurs –Chabé included – went for the BMW purely because it was a PHEV, and thus capable of being registered in London in 2020.

Going forward, there will be no more pure ICE 7-series in the UK, says Connolly. “The UK won’t take the petrol or diesel versions. Our focus is mainly on electric, as the car has a 387 mile range. But there will be a plug-in hybrid in mid-2023.”

This is likely to be more popular outside London, where the rules are not nearly as stringent in terms of what chauffeurs can or cannot register. Only London is restricting registrations to zero-emissions capable vehicles – and from 2025, pure ZEVs. Elsewhere, Euro 6 diesel and Euro 4 petrol still applies – as per the Department for the Environment guidelines.

The focus on high specification will continue. BMW has been clever here in that all initial i7 supplies will come with one specification – loaded with many of the most impressive options of the car, including a fold-flat rear seat, a 32in drop-down wide screen in the rear and a “blackout” facility that turns the rear cabin completely dark should the passenger want to sleep.

By doing so, the supply pipeline has been freed. All UK cars will be the same spec, so there will be no delays associated with bespoke manufacturing. “I defy anyone to say it’s not the benchmark for luxury,” says a confident Connolly.

Most of the speccing-up is aimed at the rear passenger, says Connolly. “Compared to the current 7-series the environment is far more modern and luxurious. We’re also giving the rear seat passenger more control of the luxury – for example via a fixed tablet screen in the door, which can control everything including the heated and air-conditioned seats, massage seats, telephone calls, dimming the lights and changing music, which can be done without asking the driver.”

Early supplies of the i7 will be allocated to gain maximum impact. Rather than giving every dealer a demonstrator, 30 cars will be placed with leading London chauffeurs and hotels. These initial cars will be followed by a bigger supply during March and April, which is when Chabé expects to get its other 5 cars.

Chabé UK managing director David Bruce believes the BMW i7 is the car the market has been demanding. “There has certainly been a gap for a fully electric saloon, and we’ve seen increasing client demand for it. Clients have asked us if we have Teslas. I say no, because it’s not a chauffeur product. Tesla is not a luxury guest experience. The i7 is the first product that meets that need, and today is the first opportunity for us to showcase it.”

Chabé may be a newcomer to the UK, but it is well established in France, and the company has the funding to increase its fleet. From a standing start in 2020, the company now has almost 20 cars on strength, and Bruce says this will reach 30 by the end of 2023 – with all the growth coming from EVs. Indeed, with the i7s and an increasing number of Mercedes-Benz EQV electric people-movers coming on stream, around half the Chabé fleet will be electric by the middle of 2023.

“Chabé has the capital to invest in the product, and ultimately it will replace the hybrid technology-in our fleet. As we grow we’ll buy the i7 and as we replace the fleet, we’ll buy more of them. We may well extend our purchase beyond 5 cars next year,” says Bruce.

Today’s activity involves a tour of a number of top-grade London hotels, including the Dorchester and the recently- opened boutique hotel on the West End’s rapidly gentrifying “Tin Pan Alley”, the Chateau Denmark, as well as a couple of high-end managed residences, where super-rich residents own eight-figure London flats.

Interest is clearly there – concierges and hotel managers are extremely keen to view the car and sit in the back – and especially to have a look in the boot. For a concierge, making sure the luggage can be accommodated is a part of the job, and many EVs and hybrids make that more difficult thanks to intrusive battery packs that take up boot space.

However, BMW has designed the i7’s loadspace in such a way as to leave a deep space that could allow large cases to be stacked – and the concierges are impressed. After all, the last thing they, or Chabé, want to do is to send for a second car, just for the luggage.

Bruce is delighted with the response. “The feedback has been amazing. It’s great to see clients wanting to have their photos taken with the car – really different. The appetite for this vehicle is clearly therethey want it on the account now,” he says.

The i7’s zero-emissions ability has other advantages too, says Bruce, as it is likely to have great appeal to corporate clients.

“We’re getting clients increasingly asking for CO2 reporting – so having a ZEV gives us another advantage in the marketplace –the need is there but this is the first time such a car has been available.”

Supplies are not restricted at present, Connolly says. “If you went to a retailer now and ordered a car, you would get it in Q2.”

Back-up looks likely to be extensive too, with a 5-year, unlimited mileage warranty and free servicing. There will also be free subscription to a BMW charging service, offering reduced rates at a number of networks, including a 20% discount at any BP Pulse charge point. Even better, the service gives free use of the super-fast (and partially BMW-owned) Ionity network for any i7 owner for 12 months, with reduced rates thereafter.

And in London, BMW is working with its dealers to offer priority booking for servicing and repair for chauffeurs. “You won’t jump the queue but will get priority – we recognise that your car is a work tool,” Connolly says. In addition, BMW will have two PCO registered back-up cars in London for chauffeurs whose i7 is off the road. These will be based at Heathrow and Chiswick.