Can This BMW i3 Challenge Chinese EV Rivals
The BMW 3-Series is the essence of the BMW brand. For five decades, this icon has stood for sporty driving pleasure, unmistakably attractive design and consistent progress.
Previous 3-Series launches had BMW management emphasising 0-100km/h acceleration, cornering ability, driving dynamics and handsome looks.
Today, it’s all about battery driving range, high torque, how fast the battery can be charged, whats kind of battery cells used and explaining the new face of this all electric sedan.
A legacy to which every generation of the BMW 3-Series is committed. The new, fully electric BMW i3 (using back the iconic naming) enhances the familiar character of the BMW 3-Series with additional, unique features.
Did you know that BMW began its electric journey into electric mobility in 2013 with the launch of the fully electric BMW i3, produced in Leipzig. You can still see this early i3 on Malaysian roads.
As the second model in the Neue Klasse, it represents a technological quantum leap into a new era. The first all-electric BMW 3-Series launches as the BMW i3 50 xDrive, which has an electric motor on both the front and rear axles.
The combined system power output is 469 hp, the maximum torque is 645 Nm. The highly efficient sixth-generation BMW eDrive technology, together with the new BMW Panoramic iDrive and Heart of Joy, delivers driving pleasure on a level never experienced before.
With BMW Symbiotic Drive, the assisted driving experience is also entering a new era. The BMW i3 also stands for a modern interpretation of the hallmark design features of a BMW Sedan.
As a representative of the new design language, the new BMW i3 is immediately recognisable as a BMW 3-Series – assured, dynamic and intelligent. The hallmark BMW sporty silhouette proportions are reflected in the new 2.5-box design.
Notable features are the long wheelbase, the greenhouse that slopes towards the rear and the short overhangs. The four-eyed face is familiar, yet still new. The BMW radiator grille and twin headlights merge into an innovative light signature, creating a powerful and expressive unit. The rear end, featuring prominently horizontal rear lights, further highlights precision and technological progress.
The prominently flared wheel arches emphasise the sporty, wide stance of the new BMW i3. The interior offers a high level of spaciousness and makes full use of all the possibilities of the vehicle concept, which is consistently geared towards electromobility. At the same time, the interior represents driver-oriented sportiness. The new BMW Panoramic iDrive not only defines the modern and inviting interior, but also ushers in a new level of hallmark BMW driver orientation.
Sportiness and driving pleasure are invariably embedded in the DNA of the BMW 3-Series. The new BMW i3 sets new standards. Maximising the unmatched capabilities of electromobility, it offers impressively precise, effortless, and assured handling. The Heart of Joy high-performance computer shapes the BMW i3 driving experience.
Its responses are ten times faster than in previous systems. Together with three other superbrain high-performance computers, the Heart of Joy forms the centrepiece of the new software and electronics architecture.
The new BMW i3 stands out for its excellent suitability for long journeys. Its range is up to 900 kilometres (in accordance with the WLTP test cycle). DC charging capacities of up to 400 kW also drastically reduce charging times.
The DC fast charger can recharge energy for up to 400 km in 10 minutes (in accordance with ISO 12906 in the WLTP cycle). Sixth-generation BMW eDrive technology provides the prerequisites for this rapid progress. It comprises highly efficient electric motors, 800-volt technology and new high-voltage batteries with new round cells.
The cell-to-pack design used enables high energy densities at pack level and a flatter high-voltage battery. The BMW i3 also features the bidirectional charging functions Vehicle-to-Load (optional AC charging Professional required), Vehicle-to-Home and Vehicle-to-Grid charging functions.
So, will this latest i3, 3-Series ignite the BMW electric vehicle sales in Malaysia and the rest of ASEAN and will it be priced to rival Chinese electric sedans like the BYD SEAL?
The BMW i3 is manufactured at the BMW Group plant in Munich, which is the home plant of the BMW Group. For more than a hundred years, the plant in Milbertshofen, in the north of Munich, has been producing premium vehicles.
Over the last four years, the plant has seen significant modernisation: Alongside a new body shop, a cutting-edge vehicle assembly area incorporating logistics space has been constructed. The new buildings are in their final stages of expansion. Production of the new BMW i3 will start in these halls from August 2026.
The first vehicles will be delivered from autumn of 2027. One year later, the production portfolio will be switched to exclusively fully electric vehicles of the Neue Klasse. The plant conversion includes a large number of modernisation measures.
