BMW debuts all-electric iX3 at Auto China 2018

The BMW Group recently highlighted its BMW Concept iX3 all-electric, emission-free SAV (Sports Activity Vehicle) at the Auto China 2018 show in Beijing. The goal with the iX3 is to offer the same power and performance you’d expect from a traditional gas-powered vehicle but with a fully electric motor. The BMW Group also took this opportunity to reveal plans for expanding its electric mobility initiatives, which are part of its ACES (Automated, Connected, Electrified, and Services) philosophy and NUMBER ONE > NEXT strategy. This strategy brings together everything from electric drive and autonomous driving technologies to connected services and more as the company looks toward the future.

The start of something new

The BMW Concept iX3 operates on the fifth generation of the company’s eDrive technology and represents the best of what BMW has to offer in terms of the motor, transmission, and electronics as well as the battery that powers it all. By using more powerful batteries, BMW can pack more features into its fully electric SAV while also reducing weight and expanding the operating range. As part of the new i brand, the iX3 will also be able to take advantage of technologies found in the powertrain of the BMW iNext, which is a fully electric, self-driving vehicle scheduled for a 2021 reveal.

What makes the BMW iX3 reveal particularly exciting is that it won’t be the only vehicle to benefit from these new technologies. BMW plans to add many of them to its full line of all-wheel, front-wheel, and rear-wheel drive gas, hybrid, and all-electric vehicles. In fact, the company is making sure the base architecture of all of its models will be ready to take advantage of different drive system configurations. The BMW X3 that the iX3 is based on is one such model that will benefit from recent innovations.

Manufacturing flexibility

BMW has engineered the fifth-generation eDrive system with scalability and flexibility in mind. Because the motor, transmission, and electronics are all a part of the same modular component, the company can more easily build the system into a variety of vehicle types.

Thanks to the modularity designed into the system, it’s now possible for 10 BMW Group locations to begin production of electric vehicles, with the eDrive components coming directly from the company’s Dingolfing plant in Germany, a facility in Shenyang, China, and another in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in the United States. BMW plans to build the production version of the BMW Concept iX3 at the China facility.

The BMW Concept iX3 itself has a 200-kilowatt (nearly 270-horsepower) electric motor with an operating range of over 400 kilometres (249 miles). That range is thanks to its high-voltage battery, which has features specifically built for the fifth-generation BMW eDrive system, including faster charging. BMW will setup fast-charging stations that can generate up to 150 kilowatts, which means you can charge your battery in around 30 minutes and get back out on the road quickly.

Elements of design

One of the secondary benefits of BMW’s electric mobility approach is that its vehicles will also get design updates to make them even more eye-catching than previous models. The i brand in general will have its own unique emblem that makes it stand out as well as the trademark kidney grille closed off to offer better aerodynamics and less wind resistance. The BMW iX3 will have blue accents around the grille, logo, side skirts, and diffuser in the rear. All of these color accents will play off the Moonstone Silver matte paint on the exterior. BMW plans to use the new design touches as a starting point for many of its future models.

More on BMW i

The BMW i brand, which is responsible for the Concept iX3, focuses on connectivity services as well as vehicle concepts. There are already quite a few i vehicles out on the road, including the i3 electric car and i8 plug-in hybrid sports car, as well as other BMW iPerformance hybrids. Some other technologies from the i brand include DriveNow and ReachNow for car sharing, and ParkNow for a more streamlined parking experience, just to name a few examples.