The Prime Minister’s BMW 7 Series limousine will be due for replacement in the coming years – here’s what an all-new, all-electric version could look like.
Imagined: Prime Minister’s next limousine, with an electric twist
Originally published 15-Nov-2021
Since it first entered service in 1910, the Prime Ministerial Limousine has held the role of the official car tasked with transporting our Prime Minister in safety and comfort in Australia and overseas.
Following three decades of Australian-built Ford LTD and Holden Caprice limos, official body COMCAR switched the official car of Australia’s leader to a ‘F03’ BMW 7 Series in 2014, as local car manufacturing prepared to wind down over the years that followed.
The circa-10-year lifespan of past iterations of ‘C1’ – with the previous Holden Caprice in service from the mid-2000s to 2013 – leaves the PM’s armoured limousine due for replacement in the coming years. It’s good timing too, with a new generation of BMW 7 Series just on the horizon – and an armoured ‘High Security’ version to follow in the coming years.
Recently unveiled, the new 7 Series will be the first generation to offer an all-electric option, badged i7 – meaning that should BMW deem its driving range sufficient for the armoured treatment (and placing the PM’s own EV stance aside), the ‘G70’ i7 could become Australia’s first electric Prime Ministerial limousine.
Imagined in this computer rendering by artist @avarvarii, the electric COMCAR hero retains the signature white paint, ‘C-1’ plate and nose-mounted Australian flag of today’s PM limo, but mixes in the polarising new front end (split headlights and conjoined grilles included) of the new 7 Series range.
Downsized alloy wheels wrapped in runflat Michelin tyres fill the arches, allowing for long-distance driving with punctured rubber should the vehicle come under attack.
While today’s 2014 7 Series-based Prime Ministerial Limousine is powered by a muscular 400kW/750Nm 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged petrol V12, the PM’s official car would draw from one of three new zero-emission powertrain options, should it make the switch to electric power.
Details are so far thin on the ground, though rumours suggest the civilian i7 will offer eDrive45, xDrive50 and M60 electric options; the middle choice likely to feature two electric motors developing 353kW combined, and a 120kWh battery pack.
While the electric powertrains might provide the performance needed for an official state car, the additional tonne of heft added by the bullet-proof and bomb-proof armoured upgrades will have a significant impact on driving range – potentially pushing it below the minimum requirements set by government body and ‘C1’ caretakers COMCAR.
Looking to petrol power, the twin-turbo V12 of the outgoing ‘G12’ 7 Series won’t live to see another generation, with the flagship combustion option to be a new 4.4-litre ‘S68’ twin-turbo V8 rumoured to develop 393kW, paired with all-wheel drive.
It remains to be seen whether the 2023 BMW 7 Series – or its i7 equivalent – makes its way onto the official COMCAR fleet, though it’s likely the government body will look to the Bavarian car maker for another round of armoured transportation – joining the new-generation BMW X5 armoured SUVs also believed to be on the way for Australia.
Should COMCAR look elsewhere, the demise of local manufacturing means German rivals Audi and Mercedes-Benz would be high on the shortlist, with armoured versions of their A8 and S-Class limousines respectively – the latter recently entering a new generation.
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