German luxury car maker BWM has unveiled the i3, its first electric sedan under the Neue Klasse (New Class) platform, which will boast a whopping 900 km of range, outdoing the newly announced iX3’s 805 km range spec.
Details were unveiled in Munich this week, where the BMW i3 sedan had its world premiere, and will also be the city where the factory that will produce this model.
The dual-motor BMW i3 50 xDrive will be the first car off the rank under the i3 model name, with an expected arrival in early 2027, around 6 months after the iX3 lands on our shores this year.
This powertrain delivers 345 kW of power and 645 Nm of torque, making it one of the most powerful sedans the company makes.
Like the new iX3, the i3 sedan can charge at up to 400 kW at the right fast charger, adding 400 km of range in just 10 minutes.
Behind this charging speed is BMW’s sixth-generation eDrive tech, which moves to an 800 V architecture and cylindrical battery cells. That not only helps with hitting those charging speeds but also the range the sedan can deliver.
Although specs on the battery pack were not disclosed for the i3, we can expect a similar capacity to that on the iX3, which stands at 108 kWh.
This battery also forms part of the cell-to-pack setup, which allows for high energy densities at the pack level and a flatter high-voltage battery pack.
Another bit of tech which would be welcomed by future i3 owners is Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) capability, as well as Vehicle-to-Home and Vehicle-to-Grid. More details on these capabilities will be announced later.
On the i3, there is also the new BMW Panoramic iDrive system, which will bring the traditional iDrive system into quite a modern experience.
Like the iX3, the BMW i3 50 xDrive is the first variant in the lineup, and we can expect more variants with different specifications to be announced later down the track.
More details, including pricing and specifications, will be announced at a later date, likely closer to its early 2027 launch.
With a 900 km range on a single charge, 400 kW charging speeds, and a modern sports-car look with its tech-focused interior, it could be the best-selling European sedan on the market next year.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.