First Ever BMW iX3 To Premiere Online

The world premiere of the first ever BMW iX3 will be online. The digital premiere will be broadcast live
on Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at 10:00 CEST (= Munich Time) on http://live.bmwgroup.com/c3MBSC

As part of the BMW Group’s pursuit of an electrification strategy, the new BMW iX3 is scheduled to be in the market by the end of 2020. The BMW core brand’s first pure electric model will be built at the BMW Brilliance Automotive joint venture (BBA) in China. The BBA Plant in Dadong, Shenyang will produce the first Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) with a pure electric drive train for the global market. The first batch of iX3 electric vehicles are scheduled for delivery to customers by the end of the year.

“This is the first time we have completed the entire homologation process for a fully electric model in China and Europe at the same time. The staff on our testing team mastered this unique challenge with tremendous dedication and efficiency,” said Arno Keller, head of Development BMW iX3. More than 340 hours of testing, including over 7700 kilometres of test drives, had to be completed within four weeks. The testing required for homologation of the new BMW iX3 was successfully completed in June and the results submitted to the regulatory authorities in key automotive markets.

All Set for the Market

Preparations for production of the BMW iX3 were stepped up in Shenyang in parallel. BBA has been building BMW iX3 pre-production vehicles at Plant Dadong since the middle of last year. The 200th pre-production model recently came off the assembly line and test drives on Chinese roads began – allowing development and test engineers to make final adjustments.

“We are right on schedule with our BMW iX3 pre-production vehicles,” explained Robert Küssel, BBA Plant Director Dadong. “We are also producing the fully-electric BMW iX3 and the BMW X3 with combustion engine on the same production line. This enables us to achieve high efficiency and flexibility in production,” Küssel continued.

With the new BMW iX3, the BMW Group is adding another fully-electric vehicle to its portfolio that will not only tap into new customer groups, but also arrives on the market at a time when demand for electric vehicles is expanding significantly.

The Power of Choice

The iX3 electric vehicle is based on the globally successful BMW X3 and combines the versatility and robust functionality of a premium mid-size Sports Activity Vehicle with ground-breaking drive technology for locally emission-free driving pleasure. The BMW X3 is the brand’s first model available with both conventional petrol and diesel engines, a plug-in hybrid system or a pure electric drive train. This “Power of Choice” approach allows the company to respond to the different needs and wants of its customers worldwide and maximise its impact in reducing global CO2 emissions.

The BMW iX3 comes with fifth-generation BMW eDrive technology, including a drive unit with the electric engine, power electronics and transmission highly integrated into a central housing. This significantly reduces the installation space and mass of the drive technology relative to output and offers added flexibility for installing new electric powertrain components in different vehicle derivatives. A further highlight is the electric motor, which no longer requires the use of rare earths and ensures the BMW Group is not dependent on their availability.

The fifth-generation electric drive train also includes new and more powerful high-voltage batteries. Thanks to their scalable and modular design, these can be used flexibly in the respective vehicle architecture and at the respective production locations.

The iX3 has a claimed range of around 440 kilometres in the WLTP test cycle (preliminary data) and paves the way for BMW eDrive technology, which will also be used in BMW i4 and BMW iNEXT models from 2021 on.

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