German carmaker BMW has announced it will begin making the all-electric iX3 in 2020.
The BMW iX3 is produced for the world market by the joint venture BMW Brilliance Automotive in Shenyang, China.
The iX3, which is based on the X3, will be BMW’s third electric model to reach the market.
The new car will achieve a range of more than 440 km with a net-battery size of 74 kWh.
The iX3 will also be the first vehicle to sport BMW’s fifth-generation drivetrain technology that will also be used in the i4 and iNext, and feature BMW’s latest battery technology. The first purely electric Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) is the trailblazer for BMW eDrive technology of the fifth generation, which, starting 2021, will also be deployed in the BMW i4 and the BMW iNEXT.
The electric motor featured in the BMW iX3 delivers a maximum power output of 210 kW/286 hp.
The torque of 400 Nm allows for high initial acceleration and keeps a high level even at the upper motor speeds because of exclusive BMW design measures.
At the same time, the BMW engineers were able to reduce the share of cobalt contained in the battery by another two thirds.
Compared to former technology used by BMW Group, the gravimetric energy density on cell level in the BMW iX3 is around 20% higher.
With the BMW iX3 the raw materials Cobalt and Lithium for the first time are purchased by BMW directly and then handed over to the producer of the battery cells.
