The BMW i3 was never offered in China, but a fully electric vehicle carrying this moniker will go on sale locally later this year. However, it won’t be the oddball hatchback some love to hate since the EV is being reinvented as a 3 Series Sedan without a combustion engine. The first images leaked in December 2021 as seen below, along with some of the specs, and now we have fresh details about the i3 with a trunk lid.
Based on the long-wheelbase 3er built and sold in the People’s Republic by the BMW Brilliance Automotive joint venture, the i3 Sedan will be available with a 70.27-kWh battery pack. It will store enough juice for 526 kilometers (327 miles) of range, which represents a decent figure at a first glance. However, the rating is based on the overly optimistic New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), so an equivalent WLTP figure would be much smaller, and a hypothetical EPA rating would decrease the number furthermore.
Officially labeled as the BMW i3 eDrive 35L, the China-spec electric sedan will be 4872 millimeters (192 inches) long, 1846 mm (72.7 in) wide, and 1481 mm (58.3 in) tall, with a wheelbase of 2966 mm (117 in). By having to carry around a large battery pack, it goes without saying the zero-emissions 3 Series is a lot heavier than its combustion-engined counterpart. Case in point, it tips the scales at 2,029 kilograms (4,473 pounds), which is more than the BMW M5.
Equipped with a single electric motor, the purely electric sedan will offer 335 horsepower (250 kilowatts) and an instant torque of 410 Newton meters (302 pound-feet). An acceleration figure has not been disclosed, but we do know the EV tops out at 112 mph (180 km/h), which is likely electronically governed.
In terms of efficiency, it will consume 14.3 kWh for every 62 miles (100 kilometers) covered, but we’d wager that’s going to be possible only with the standard 18-inch alloy wheels since the optional 19-inch set will likely negatively impact the range.
BMW has yet to formally unveil the i3 Sedan in China, although an official premiere should be right around the corner.
Source: d1ev.com
