BMW iX3 electric to be launched in the international markets by end of 2020

German premium automobile brand BMW is gearing up for the commercial launch of the iX3 electric, that is scheduled to take place at the end of this year. The company has started prepping up for series production of the iX3, which will take place at the BMW Brilliance Automotive joint venture (BBA) in China. BBA has already begun production of the iX3 at its Plant Dadong in Shenyang, since the middle of last year.

BMW confirms that it has successfully completed the testing required for homologation, which has been done by putting more than 340 hours over 7,700km of test drive that was completed in four weeks. This is the first time that the company has completed the homologation process for a fully electric model in China and Europe at the same time. The results of testing during homologation have been shared with the authorities in the markets where the company plans to launch the iX3. BBA rolled out the 200th pre-production model of the iX3 and has started testing it in China for the final tweaks that will be incorporated in the production model.

The iX3 is based on the BMW X3 SUV through which the company will be offering a choice between conventional petrol and diesel engines, a plug-in hybrid system or a pure electric drivetrain. The electric SAV is equipped with the fifth-generation BMW eDrive technology, that consists of a drive unit with the electric motor, powerful high-voltage batteries, power electronics and transmission, all integrated into a central housing. BMW claims that 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. Further, a scalable, modular design of the fifth-generation electric drivetrain makes it flexible for any vehicle architecture, meaning more EV iterations of BMW's existing range will be rolled out in the coming years.

The drive range, according to the WLTP test cycle (preliminary data), for the BMW iX3 claims to be in the range of 440km. Also, BMW will be using the same eDrive tech in BMW i4 and BMW iNEXT models that will arrive from 2021 onward.