Since the reveal of the BMW i Vision Dee prototype at CES in Las Vegas in January 2023, the propeller brand has refined its so-called Neue Klasse sedan. The latter will give birth, by 2026, to a 100% electric sedan which will be called BMW i3 and which will obviously have nothing to do with the first i3 sold from 2013 to 2022.
Priority to the BMW iX3
The last official appearance of the concept car dates from the Paris Motor Show in mid-October last year where it took its first French walkabout alongside the Neue Klasse X prototype. Since then, our scoop hunters have uncovered the production version, certainly still very heavily camouflaged, during testing phases in Germany. This is the very first time that the vehicle has been caught on the open road. BMW will use its new platform dedicated to its electric vehicles on the next version of its iX3 next year which will result from the Neue Klasse X mentioned above.
Then, the BMW i3 will follow suit. According to our information, this rival to the Tesla Model 3, and the future electric Audi A4 e-tron and Mercedes C-Class will be produced in the historic BMW factory in Munich. An industrial site which will only assemble models which will be marketed in Europe. Because the Bavarian firm has also decided to produce its model as close as possible to the targeted markets, that is to say in its Chinese and Mexican factories to target the Middle Kingdom and North America respectively.
A BMW i3 already broken down?
It was following a small setback for the developers, who had to carry out an electrical intervention under the hood, that our paparazzi were able to capture this pre-production vehicle in person. Besides, the open hood of the BMW i3 allows us to observe its so-called bodywork cutout, that is to say positioned on the top of the front wings and the use of a “soft nose” separating it from the grille.
So many elements constrained by safety standards which are not present on the concept car. Another already notable difference is the lighting signature of the production BMW i3 which will clearly be in a more classic spirit than that of the prototype. Forget the double diagonal bars, make way for LEDs in pairs.
A minimum power of 300 hp and an overpowering iM3 in 2027
The soberly treated sides will not vary from the concept, only flush door handles have appeared. Finally, at the stern, circular lighting elements still conceal the texture and graphics of the final lights. The range of the future BMW i3 should start with a strong proposition of 300 hp in the basic version and featuring 800 Volt technology. While the most turbulent version, called iM3, will be the plug-in alter ego of the M3. The latter will arrive in 2027.
Published on 11/12/2024 at 4:47 p.m.
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