The new BMW iX3 arrives long after Tesla’s revolutionary electric car line and European trio Audi e-tron, Mercedes EQC and Jaguar I-Pace, giving up all-wheel drive functionality in favor of a less expensive rear-wheel drive design.
Take 3 new words for BMW owners: Made in China.
BMW’s new iX3 SUV. Source: supplied
Built in Shenyang in a joint venture between BMW and Brilliance Automotive, the iX3 represents a focus on the brand.
Originally opened under the motto “in China, for China”, the concern built the bulk of BMW models sold in China before expanding to become the global source of iX3 electric models.
Although the brand’s legacy is German, BMW has factories around the world: the giant SUV X5 comes from North Carolina and Australia’s 3 Series models come from South Africa until 2018.
BMW has invested heavily in Chinese facilities. Source: supplied
The new iX3 represents a deviation in aspects.
BMW’s first electric cars, the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car and the hatchback i3, were ambitious designs with a carbon fiber structure and rare in the other models in the showroom.
But the new iX3 is a battery-powered edition of the popular X3 luxury SUV: luxurious, practical and familiar to thousands of consumers around the world.
Powered by a single electric motor that drives the rear wheels, the new BMW iX3 offers 210 kW and 400 Nm of power.
A battery on the floor drives the rear wheels of the BMW iX3 SUV.
That’s enough to succeed in a hundred km/h in 6.8 seconds, which is much slower than the toughest rivals with all-wheel drive.
But the logo says that its design selection creates “a classic BMW driving experience” similar to that of the much-loved 3 and 5 series sedans. An adaptive suspension and a low center of gravity keep this promise.
Blue external reflections make it easy to detect the electric iX3.
An 80 kWh battery offers an impressive 460-kilometer diversity with the strict WLTP verification cycle. BMW says this translates into about 520 km of real-world use.
The car’s electrical appliance is designed to handle 150 kW of fast charging, giving it an additional diversity of 100 kilometers in 10 minutes.
After pushing the barriers with the i8 (pictured) and i3, BMW protected itself with the iX3.
BMW has not shown the australian costs or specifications for the car, which is expected to arrive at the time of 2021.
He says the interior of the iX3 brings the same “highly premium vibe” as its wider SUV RANGE, the new style is the only one that provides an electro soundtrack through Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer instead of the normal combustion engine noises.
The iX3’s cab resembles its conventional-powered cousins.
Priced at around $68,000 ($111,000) in Germany, the BMW iX3 costs a little less than the proposed BMW X5 30d for approximately $112,000 wheel in Australia.
This will make it usefully less expensive than the competition of high-end electric SUVs that charge around $140,000 per wheel.