A camouflaged BMW i7 wearing Alpina styling cues has been photographed on the road, and Carscoops reads it as the first electric car from the tuner. Photos credited to SH Proshots were published on Nov. 9. The prototype has a blanked-off grille and no exhaust tips, the two details that separate it from Alpina’s V8 test car.
Save more, waste less: The Cool Down’s newsletter sends smart, simple changes that help you and the planet in your everyday life.
We may earn a commission if you sign up.
Alpina became a full BMW Group brand at the start of 2026, and its first production model, a 7 Series with a V8, is expected in 2027. An electric sibling would extend a lineup that BMW management has so far described only as combustion first, with other powertrains to follow later.
Blanked grille, shared lights and no tailpipes
Writing for Carscoops, Chris Chilton noted that the electric prototype shares the combustion Alpina’s razor-thin LED daytime running lights, which sit apart from the headlight units, along with the same lower bumper and grille outline. The difference is at the nose: the grille is blanked off, where the gasoline car uses horizontal bars and mesh to feed air to its V8 radiator. The wheels match those on the combustion prototype spied the previous month.
At the rear, the gasoline Alpina has oval exhaust tailpipes at each corner, which Chilton calls an Alpina trademark. The electric car has none. Together the details point to a common design for both powertrains, mirroring how BMW sells the regular 7 Series and the i7 on one body.
The comparison car matters because BMW has already shown it. Carscoops says BMW recently released pictures of a camouflaged combustion Alpina 7 Series prototype and promised it would exceed 186 mph, likely using a tuned version of the 563-horsepower 4.4-liter V8 from the BMW M760 xDrive. Alpina’s trademark has long been a refined, fast long-distance sedan, and the electric car appears to be built to the same brief with a different drivetrain, down to identical wheels and light signatures.
The i7 M70 hardware an Alpina EV would inherit
BMW facelifted the i7 earlier in 2026. Carscoops says the dual-motor M70 xDrive now makes 670 horsepower, 20 more than before, and reaches 62 mph in 3.8 seconds with launch control. Electrive’s coverage of the facelift lists the same car at 500 kW and 1,015 newton-meters, built around a 112.5 kWh battery of large cylindrical cells that replaced a 101.7 kWh prismatic pack. Peak DC charging rose from 200 kW to 250 kW.
Chilton expects an Alpina i7 to start from that package and add more power and a quicker sprint, since Alpina buyers expect more than a BMW with an extra helping of leather. He also expects the long-range pack, which lifted the M70 to 426 miles by his figures, plus BMW’s new Panoramic iDrive display and a heavy focus on interior luxury.
Electrive’s table gives the M70 a 650-kilometer WLTP range, a 250 km/h top speed and a German price of 182,400 euros, with the 190 kW front motor and 360 kW rear motor unchanged Gen5 units. Those are the numbers an Alpina would have to beat, and a prototype running the standard hardware with new tuning would be the cheapest way for BMW to test the market before committing to bespoke components.
BMW’s stated plan: V8 first, other powertrains later
BMW has not confirmed this prototype. What the company has said publicly is narrower. At the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in May, BMW unveiled the Vision BMW Alpina design study, a V8 coupe, and Alpina head Oliver Viellechner described the brand as filling a gap between BMW and Rolls-Royce. The first production model, based on the 7 Series, arrives in 2027.
BMWBLOG’s report quotes Viellechner telling Top Gear that non-combustion variants will be needed going forward, and quotes design chief Maximilian Missoni saying Alpina will offer both powertrain types. The same report says the electric version follows later and will not be so relevant at the beginning, so no EV launch date exists from BMW.
The gasoline car has already been at speed. Motor1 reported that a camouflaged V8 prototype passed 186 mph at the Nardo test center in southern Italy, with a windshield projection suggesting about 589 horsepower on the prototype. Top Gear quoted Viellechner calling it a pure V8 without a plug, which makes the electric car a separate effort.
Carscoops expects the Alpina i7 to debut in 2027 and go on sale as a model year 2028 vehicle at a price it calls entirely believable at $200,000, noting that the 2026 M70 already costs more than $170,000. Both the date and the price are the outlet’s projection, and BMW has not offered either. A model year 2028 label would also fit the gasoline car’s 2027 reveal, which leaves room for the electric version to arrive months later without contradicting anything the company has said. Whether BMW treats the car as a one-off flagship or the first step into a broader Alpina EV range is the question the spy shots cannot answer.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
Save more, waste less: Subscribe to The Cool Down →
We may earn a commission if you sign up.
More from Morning Overview
- Zero Motorcycles unveiled an electric motorcycle targeted at under $8K and a street-legal dirt bike at EICMA
- The Justice Department asked courts to undo approvals for three offshore wind farms, one already making power
- Neanderthals in Spain carved a wooden object that matches nothing archaeologists have ever found
- The FAA wants $2.39 million from a flight school it says flew a Cessna about 280 times with an unapproved part
