{"id":353105,"date":"2026-03-18T19:51:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T19:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/353105\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T19:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T19:51:13","slug":"can-bmws-new-900km-ev-3-series-convince-the-electric-doubters-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/353105\/","title":{"rendered":"Can BMW\u2019s new 900km EV 3 Series convince the electric doubters? \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

BMW<\/a> might just have come up with a way of convincing the electric car<\/a> doubters out there about the merit of switching to battery power \u2013 take its most famous four-door sports saloon, the 3 Series, and give it four-wheel drive, a 0-100km\/h time of close to 4.0 seconds, and a range of 900km. This is the new i3.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve already seen, and lauded, the bigger iX3 electric SUV<\/a>, a BMW so good that we named it as our Irish Times car of the year back in December. <\/p>\n

Now, though the same \u201cNeue Klasse\u201d platform (a name plucked, with much significance, from BMW\u2019s history) is going to work under the car that, for many of us, defines what a BMW is, even in the SUV age. A sleek, low, compact, four-door sporting saloon. <\/p>\n

So, this i3 \u2013 the name is shared with the oddball 2014 electric hatchback, but now has rather more in the way of sales potential \u2013 will launch as an i3 50 xDrive model, using the same twin-motor, four-wheel-drive set-up as the iX3 50 xDrive, meaning you get 469hp and 645Nm of torque. BMW hasn\u2019t issued an official 0-100km\/h time yet, but as the larger, heavier, and less sleek iX3 does that in 4.9 seconds, expect the i3 to be closer to 4.5 seconds. <\/p>\n

Of far more import, for many, will be the i3\u2019s range. BMW says it currently stands at 900km with the largest 108kWh battery pack, using the new \u201cGen6\u201d design of the company\u2019s batteries, which packs 20 per cent more energy into a given size and weight.<\/p>\n

\"BMWBMW i3 <\/p>\n

That 900km isn\u2019t quite an official figure \u2013 the WLTP eggheads haven\u2019t issued their final calculations yet \u2013 but it\u2019s a number that the German carmaker is happy to bandy about, and it makes the i3 the most long-legged EV so far announced for the Irish car market.<\/p>\n

Our experience with the iX3 shows that figure may actually be a realistic one, and that even taking some heavy-footed driving into account, at least 700km of range should be expected in real-world conditions. <\/p>\n

On the outside, the i3 sticks closely to the styling of the original Neue Klasse concept car, although some of the concept\u2019s very sharply drawn lines are a little softer here, an inevitability given the need to actually bend sheet metal for production cars, rather than a one-off. Still, it\u2019s possibly the most handsome BMW of recent years, with a sharp-edged look that clearly owes a debt to the 1980s E30 3 Series. <\/p>\n

\"BMWBMW i3 <\/p>\n

It does without the extra light-up \u201ckidney grilles\u201d of the iX3, and instead has some neat backlit pinstripes in its blanked-off digital \u201cgrille\u201d at the front, which actually lends this production version a touch more character than the concept. Little flicks of LED lights at the outer edge of that grille pay homage to the traditional BMW quad-light look. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0BMW unveils the Neue Klasse – the first of its next-generation electric vehiclesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Inside, as with the iX3, there\u2019s the dramatic sweep of the \u201cpanoramic view display\u201d instrument screen, which runs the full width of the cabin just below the windscreen. <\/p>\n

\"BMWBMW i3 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a subtler layout than that sounds, and one that works exceptionally well. It\u2019s backed up by a 17.9-inch touchscreen in the centre of the dash, which is shaped like an offset rectangle \u2013 that angled shape is meant to evoke memories of the classic angled dashboard of 1980s and 1990s BMWs, but the screen is also, actually, tilted a couple of degrees more towards the driver than in the iX3 SUV, so it\u2019s a real effect, not just a tribute. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0BMW\u2019s future arrives in the iX3: Faster, smarter and sharper to driveOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

That screen is also mounted far closer to your hands than is the case in many competitors, which is helpful, although the button-free cabin is still tricky to find your way around at first. <\/p>\n

Space in the back is decent, if not exceptional (well, there has to be some reason to upgrade to the iX3, after all), and there\u2019s a small storage area in the nose to augment the separate boot. <\/p>\n

\"BMWBMW i3 <\/p>\n

Need more space? A Touring estate model will arrive in due course, and if you need more performance, there\u2019s a potentially stunning 1,000hp+ quad-motor iM3 due in 2027. <\/p>\n

\"BMWBMW i3 <\/p>\n

If, after all that, you\u2019re still an electric sceptic then BMW will be keeping petrol-and-hybrid-powered 3 Series, using the platform of the current model, but wearing the skin of this Neue Klasse i3. <\/p>\n

The i3 won\u2019t arrive in Ireland till later this year, but if the iX3 is anything to go by, then its price tag won\u2019t be as stratospheric as some. <\/p>\n

Equally, this i3 50 xDrive will be one of the more expensive models, as cheaper versions using smaller batteries and single-motor, rear-wheel-drive layouts are also in the offing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BMW might just have come up with a way of convincing the electric car doubters out there about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[18041,72,8856,61,60,14835],"class_list":["post-353105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-bmw","tag-business","tag-electric-vehicles","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-motors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}