This is BMW’s first electric car since the i3 and uses a completely different recipe.

The world is changing at a faster pace than ever. Most of the credit goes to the rapid tech advancements in all fields. At the same time, this change doesn’t seem to happen fast enough in some industries. The automotive world is one of them. Even though there were some pioneers, including the BMW Group. In 2011, the Bavarians founded the BMW i division, and this was supposed to be the specialist arm of the Bavarians, focused solely on electric drivetrains and alternatives to internal combustion engines.

BMW i – Born In 2011
The BMW i engineers started cranking out new technologies at a fast pace. One clear example in this regard is the BMW i3, their flagship EV, if you will. Even eight years later, the i3 is still the only car you can buy under $100,000 with a carbon fiber monocoque layout. But the more important thing to remember about the i3 is that it now has its third different battery pack to rely on. And over the course of just about 6 years, its energy storage capacity more than doubled. All that was done without physically increasing the size of the huge battery pack in the floor.

And that seems to be the key to a truly electric future, a future that is so uncertain, most companies don’t really know what the perfect recipe to tackle it is.

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At the moment, there are two different philosophies at play in the automotive industry. On the one hand, we have companies with dedicated EV platforms which allows them to build electric cars from the ground up with no limitations. These platforms would be adjustable and allow you to make the most out of the specifics of an electric car. From adjusting the design, to offering more space inside than a similarly sized internal combustion engine car. The problem with this approach is that it’s costly and you’re investing a lot in a platform that may not cater to all the needs your customers have.

Other car makers opted for a modular platform that can house both purely electric cars and internal combustion engine. That means they can build both types of cars on the same assembly line, with the same overall chassis design, allowing you to be very flexible and adapt to the customer demand. This is what BMW is doing and they call it ‘The Power of Choice’.

It’s a risky strategy that does come with a couple of shortcomings. For example, a car that was designed to use an internal combustion engine will have some issues with interior space, with weight distribution and even practicality once is converted to an EV. But that can be overlooked if the car in question is good enough for the customer.

Meet The iX3 – BMW’s First Electric SUV
That’s what the BMW iX3 is setting out to do. This is BMW’s first electric car since the i3 and uses a completely different recipe. This time, instead of giving it a bespoke platform just for itself, the new electric SUV is using the same platform as the regular X3.

Choosing the BMW X3 to be the first car offered as part of the ‘Power of Choice’ strategy wasn’t at random. The X3 is one of the best-selling BMWs and with this new choice, the range now includes all types of powertrains: from petrol to diesel engines, PHEV and, a full-on M car and now an EV. But what is the iX3 exactly? Nothing more than an electric X3 and you can see that from every angle.

Read more: BMWBLOG

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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