New BMWi3, features, price and technical sheet

In six months with the order book open, BMW has collected 50,000 reservations from the BMW iX3. The figure is even more striking if we take into account that the car has arrived exclusively with a single 469 HP engine and a gigantic battery of more than 100 kWh, so its starting price of 69,900 euros is a starting point that will probably fall.

The electric SUV was the first car of the New Classthe reset in the BMW electric family that will mark its future. The purely electric platform that promises combustion car ranges, charging powers of 400 kW and a cabin built from the software.

Now, it is the BMW i3 that will take over in this New Class that will mark the company’s purely electric future. A car that draws aesthetically from some of its historical sedans but that, again, repeats with a cabin that will surprise the most classic.

The most important Series 3 in (many) years

The BMW i3 was, in its day, a car ahead of its time. A sort of small electric car, very spacious inside, with electrical technology that was a rarity in the market and a touch typical of BMW. A combination that could only be found in what it was: a laboratory.

Today, thanks to those investments in R&D with wheels, BMW has a new i3. One that couldn’t be more different. Because this BMW i3 is already part of the 3 Series range. It will be the first purely electric and it does so with the weight of taking the reins towards the electric car that the Germans have been diversifying but that, forced by Europe, they will have no choice but to prioritize in the coming years in the Old Continent.

Almost proportionally sculpted like one of its great successes from the past, the BMW E36, the new BMW i3 arrives with a thin and wide kidney grille, opposite to what we saw in the BMW iX3. Here the horizontal is prioritized over the vertical, unlike in the electric SUV where the verticality of the front was deepened. The shapes tend to be monolithic, with a continuous pilot rear that crosses its entire width.

Inside, BMW repeats the formula with its BMW Panoramic iDrive. That is, we have a multifunction steering wheel with touch keys whose icons light up or turn off depending on whether we are driving, parked or moving on a fast lane.

The central screen is gigantic, 17.9 incheswith a rhomboid shape to bring the functions on the left side closer to the driver. It combines customizable widgets with the map or any other function we want. But the idea is that the central screen is a mere accompaniment to be accessed from time to time.

And the BMW i3 has the thin screen that covers the entire width of the vehicle in the upper area. Instead of a traditional Head-Up Display, BMW has this customizable digital surface to which we can send information about the trip we are taking, the calendar, what is playing on the radio or the corresponding music application or the weather, to give some examples.

It is an interior that seems difficult to convince purists. It will try to convince them with its mechanics and battery. As in the case of the electric SUV, the BMW i3 xDrive 50 is the first to hit the market. That is, one of its most powerful versions.

Adding its front and rear axle motors, the BMW i3 xDrive 50 comes with 345 kW of power (469 HP) and a torque of 645 Nm. It is accompanied by a battery whose capacity has not yet been revealed, but taking into account that BMW announces a range of more than 900 kilometers (before homologation according to the WLTP cycle) we can expect it to be around or exceed 100 kWh.

What we do know is that the car will have 800 volt technology and a charging power of 400 kW, promising to recharge 400 kilometers of autonomy in just 10 minutes. In any case, we will have to wait for more details to have a clear idea of ​​this aspect but one of the best consumption on the market is expected.

To manage all the power and dynamism of the car, BMW will have what they call heart of joythe superbrain responsible for controlling the load and energy recovery but also the traction of the wheels or the response of the steering. According to BMW, the response of all the systems involved is 10 times faster than previous systems.

BMW wants to make the new i3 the perfect balance between dynamism and consumption to win over those who still have their reservations about the electric car proposals.

Photos | bmw

In Xataka | BMW i7, analysis: how to bend the limits of the electric car with a sedan that makes no concessions