Though it’s electric, the BMW iX3 feels very familiar.

It had to be an SUV, everything these days is an SUV. But if you’re a brand launching its first “mass-produced” electric car, why wouldn’t you position it in the lowest-risk segment? The 2021 BMW iX3 may not be a completely new model (like, say, the Volkswagen ID.4), but it rounds out the range, joining the already available gasoline, diesel, and plug-in hybrid variants.

And visually, the iX3 doesn’t look all that different from its gas-powered sibling. Trim-exclusive design elements like new front aprons, a faux dual kidney grille, and electric blue accents – the latter available as an option – are the only elements that give away its identity. The fancy aero wheels come standard, and not only do they save 15 percent in weight versus traditional alloys, but they’re also five percent more aerodynamic, adding an extra six miles of range.

While it may not be brand-new, the iX3 does have a few advantages that other manufacturers don’t – the key of which being that the iX3 borrows nearly all of its packaging from the base X3. But since there are no major changes to the exterior and cabin versus the standard X3, that also means there are some drawbacks. The iX3 has no extra trunk (or frunk), no noticeable increase in passenger space compared to the gas model, and no additional power.

Unfortunately, there is no brutal dual-motor, all-wheel-drive version of the BMW iX3 that accelerates with supercar quickness (yet). This EV is rear-wheel-drive only with a usable but not huge 74-kilowatt-hour battery pack. That battery pack also sits pretty low in the car, which gives the iX3 a nice center of gravity, but not great ground clearance, as one might expect of an SUV.

But the BMW iX3 doesn’t necessarily need to mimic market trends to be successful. This is the EV for people who are looking for a practical crossover that also happens to be electric. And BMW knows how to build practical, comfortable crossovers – the company has been doing it for quite some time now.

The iX3 benefits from BMW’s pioneering work in electric mobility. Seven years after the brand’s very first electric car, the BMW i3, the company now employs its “fifth-generation eDrive technology.” All of the drive and battery development takes place in-house. The motor now has 30 percent more energy density than that of the i3 and, according to BMW, is 93 percent efficient (a combustion engine is around 40 percent).

The battery may not be the largest, but the WLTP range of 286 miles is a real achievement. The storage system has 20 percent more energy density and uses 66 percent less cobalt than before. In addition, it can be charged super fast at DC stations with up to 150 kilowatts. Charging from 0 to 80 percent takes just 34 minutes, and adding 62 miles of range takes just 10 minutes.

BMW also wants to reassure those skeptics who see the carbon footprint of electric cars over the entire life cycle as a major problem. If you consider raw material procurement, supply chain, production, use phase, and recycling, it is significantly lower here than with an X3 xDrive20d, for example – by more than 30 percent when using electricity from the European electricity mix during the use phase. And that number jumps to around 60 percent if only green electricity is used.

Read more: Motor1