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THE BMW iX3 Concept provides a glimpse of how the German luxury carmaker plans to turn the technology developed for the i3 hatchback into the more buyer-friendly SUV body.
Unveiled yesterday in Beijing, the battery-powered, 200kW/400km-range iX3 was introduced as the “first model from the BMW brand to be driven purely by electric power”, even though it wears the “i” badge of the carmaker’s electric car sub-brand and taps some of the technology developed inside its EV skunk works.
Yep, chuck in a set of batteries, and the traditional Sports Utility Vehicle morphs into the Sports Activity Vehicle, hinting that BMW’s long-held drivers’ car ethos is front of mind with its electric vehicle development. BMW says the iX3 is an important part of the development of its “future model kit”.
“The transfer of the drive system technology originally developed for BMW i cars into vehicles from the BMW Group’s core brands is entering a new dimension here,” BMW said..
“In the BMW Concept iX3, the next, highly integrated development stage of this technology delivers all-electric mobility. The future series-production version of the electrically powered SAV will therefore also benefit from the technological basis underpinning the powertrain of the BMW iNext, due to be presented in 2021.”
This iNext will likely use the architecture teased in the iX3. “The future will see the company’s flexible, further developed vehicle architectures accommodating all types of front-wheel, rear-wheel and all-wheel drive,” BMW said. “This will pave the way for models from all the company’s brands to be equipped with different drive system variants. And that means a pure combustion engine, plug-in hybrid drive system or battery-electric solution can be integrated into any model, as desired.”
What is new is that the components needed for electrification will come mainly via BMW’s partnership with Chinese car brand Brilliance, although BMW’s US manufacturing hub will also get a look-in on the technology.
BMW said the Concept iX3 represented “another milestone on the road to locally emission-free driving under the BMW Group’s electrification strategy”. “And so a Sports Activity Vehicle once again blazes a trail for a new and groundbreaking form of BMW’s fabled driving pleasure,” it said. Okay…
