A new BMW i model is under development and it is expected to be an electrified version from the brand.

Patent images of the model leaked online giving us an early glimpse of the car before its announced.

Instead of going for a premium SUV, it looks like BMW is focusing on a hatchback that buyers have come to love over the years. They are practical, affordable and will make it easy to usher in the electrified motors into the mainstream market. It was earlier speculated that BMW is going for an i5 brand name for the new car, the patent filing along with the images has been done right from i1 to i9. BMW could bring the EV in any one of these names.

Based on the size of the car spotted in the patent images, we can deduce that it looks close to an BMW i3 model than any other variant. During the investors call last year, the top tier representatives confirmed that they will be looking at zero emission cars and obviously they were referring to the electric vehicles.

Concept image also showcases a very familiar brand image similar to the ones found in the i8 sports car and the i3 hatchback. The headlights are exactly the same and even the windscreen, sloping roofline are identical to the current models. They confirm that the aerodynamic capability of the upcoming electric car will be on par with the brand’s popular i series offerings.

From the sketch, it looks like a five door model and uses floating c-pillars. The rear lights in the image looks drastically different from the ones spotted in current models. Being a concept image, it could probably undergo some drastic changes before going into production. There are so many concept cars that hardly resemble the production version. We should probably wait for a long time before this simple sketch reaches next steps.

The top executive from BMW confirmed that their i brand is not simply going to be identified as an electric brand but rather it will focus on technologies of all sorts. It can even be assumed that they were talking about introducing autonomous technology in the vehicle, allowing passengers to enjoy carefree rides from their home to their office and even long camping trips. For now, check out the concept sketch and wait for BMW to reveal more official details in the following months.