BMW Concept iX3, the preview of the future fully electric SUV from the brand

At the end of last year BMW registered the model names running from the iX1 to the iX9, thus preventing anyone else from using the designation that the SUVs of the i-Performance sub-brand will logically need. Now, on the occasion of the Beijing Motor Show, or Auto China, we learn what will be the brand’s first electric SUV model: the BMW iX3 Concept.

The BMW iX3 Concept is a rolling laboratory for BMW’s new technologies, in the sense that it showcases all the technologies that the electric and hybrid models of BMW will adopt. In this way, with the iX3 Concept, BMW advances in the development and use of flexible architectures, those that will allow adaptation to any type of propulsion and traction, so that any combustion, hybrid or electric engine of the BMW Group can be integrated into any model.

We can verify this in the iX3 Concept, since its base starts from the BMW X3, a model that already has a flexible architecture. It is worth noting, however, that the iX3 Concept features a rear axle subframe, developed and integrated specifically for this model. But this is not the only notable feature: it also includes the fifth generation of the electric drive system, combining the new characteristics of BMW eDrive technology: reduced weight, scalability and compact construction.

In this fifth generation of eDrive we see a design in which the electric motor, the transmission and the electronics have been grouped into a single component, based on a modular construction to adapt to several performance and space levels, which makes integration into the different model architectures easier. Not only have improvements been made to its design; the battery section has also been upgraded, with special emphasis on the performance, charging, capacity and durability of the batteries.

The new electric motor version developed for the BMW iX3 Concept delivers a respectable output of 270 CV, incorporating a battery with a net capacity of more than 70 kWh, which according to BMW allows a range exceeding 400 km on the WLTP cycle. Another important point is that it incorporates a new charge control unit, which allows it to be connected to fast-charging stations, so that a full charge could be achieved in 30 minutes.

As for the design, as you can see, the BMW iX3 Concept introduces a new design language for the Bavarian brand, a design that, together with the BMW i Vision Dynamics, will be the starting point for the rest of the BMW i models, setting them apart from the BMW brand. Here we can see it incorporates its own decorative elements already familiar from the BMW i models, such as the blue accents on the logo, the skirts or the rear, as well as the characteristic kidney grilles without a grille surround. By the way, doesn’t this kidney design remind you of the new grille used by Kia?