This car honestly can’t come soon enough for BMW. The Bavarian brand was hot out of the electrified gate, with its i Division back in 2014. Since then, though, that heat has fizzled to lukewarm. Now, many of its competitors, and even some less premium brands, have not only caught up but surpassed BMW. And with the Audi e-tron having debuted, which is more impressive than any BMW EV, the Bavarians really need to kick it up a notch. Which put this BMW iX3 seen in these spy photos in a bit of a rush. (We don’t own the spy photos but they can be seen here)
The BMW iX3 is essentially an electrified BMW X3, as it’s built on the same chassis and even shares its body. There are some minor visual differences of course, such as the new closed-off grilles, front bumper and rear bumper but the overall design is basically the same as the standard X3’s.
Those new visuals are covered up by camouflage in these photos but we can see the lack of air intakes in the front bumper, as there’s no engine to require them.
Under the skin, the BMW iX3 will pack a 70 kWh battery that will give it a WLTP-tested range of 249 miles. While that’s not industry-leading, it’s certainly enough and in keeping with the rest of its competition. That battery pack is also capable of DC fast charging from flat to full in about a half hour. Which is not too shabby.
Putting power to the wheels will be an electric motor mounted at the rear axle, making 270 hp. That’s a fine amount of power and more than the X3 xDrive30i, so it should have no problem feeling punchy around town and in normal driving. It won’t thrill you and create YouTube-worthy acceleration videos, like the Tesla Model S P100D, but it’s more than enough for normal driving.
This BMW iX3 needs to hit the road quick because BMW’s competition isn’t slowing down and waiting for it. So let’s move it, BMW.
[Source: InsideEVs]
