Once production of BMW iX3 commences in Shenyang, China for global export in late 2020, the BMW X3 will become the first car model in the world which will be sold with petrol, diesel, plug-in hybrid as well as fully battery electric power trains.
The iX3 comes with the fifth generation BMW eDrive technology which has made major progress in terms of power density, operating range, weight, installation space requirement and flexibility. The power density of the car has been increased by 30 per cent over the BMW Group’s existing fully electric vehicles.
For the first time, electric motor, power electronics and transmission have been arranged in a central housing. The higher power and energy density of the battery now gives the BMW iX3 a range between 460 to 520 km on a single charge. The design principle of a current-excited synchronous motor enables optimised power development and allows engineers to avoid the use of rare earths.
Optimised energy storage concept offered by BMW enables vehicle charging capacity of up to 150 kW at DC fast-charging stations. This allows the car to ve recharged from 0 to 80% in 34 minutes, A 10-minute charge adds 100 kilometres of range to the car.
The newly designed fifth-generation BMW eDrive electric motor produces maximum output of 286 hp and peak torque of 400 Nm. This allows a 0-100 km/h time of 6.8 seconds. For the purpose of comparison, the BMW X3 30i does the same in 6.4 seconds. The iX3 has an electronically limited top speed of 180 km/h.
The power is transferred to the rear wheels for a classical BMW driving experience. The combination of low electric power consumption and high charging capacity enables long-distance journeys undertaken at high average speeds. BMW has also gone ahead to maintain the aural feel of driving a BMW by providing IconicSounds Electric. This is a newly developed soundscape for electrically powered BMW models which adds extra emotional depth to the driving experience. This system makes its debut in the BMW iX3.
The Transport Journal 