The i3 and i8 were trailblazers, no question about it. They were the first efforts from BMW in this direction and one of them is still around. The BMW i3 is turning eight this year and the Bavarian company said it won’t stop here. With the introduction of the i4 as the electric version of the 4 Series Gran Coupe, one can’t help but wonder how another big seller from BMW’s portfolio will be named. What name will the EV equivalent of the 3 Series be bearing?

According to a source inside Munich, BMW will use the i3 moniker on the electric 3 Series once the current electric model will go out of production. BMW plans to introduce an EV 3 Series in a few years, once the facelift of the G20 generation comes out. The first such models will arrive in China and they will be based on the long wheelbase version of the 3 Series, codenamed G28. These cars will be called BMW i3 and will have various performance levels.

If we’re to believe these rumors, the new electric cars will have names such as BMW i3 eDrive35L and BMW i3 eDrive40L which would hint at the power output of each and the fact that they are long wheelbase versions, the former being less powerful than the latter. We’re still pretty far off from seeing this whole thing happen but judging by the track record of this particular source, we might be seeing a new i3 on the roads in the near future.

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However, it seems that BMW is going to change that, as an all-electric 3er is on the way and it’s just been caught doing some testing. (We don’t own the spy photos but you can see them here)

In these new spy shots, we see a camouflaged BMW 3 Series with one of those little “Electric Test Vehicle” badges on its side. Technically, those badges are used on any sort of vehicle with batteries and a motor. So even plug-in hybrids can wear those stickers.

Having said that, we’re confident that this car is, indeed, an all-electric 3 Series due to its lack of exhaust pipes. Even the plug-in hybrid BMW 330e has dual exhaust pipes for its gasoline engine and they’re both real and cut into the rear bumper, so it’s not as if BMW can hide them behind plastic bits like Audi and Mercedes-Benz do.

This test mule is also surprisingly heavily camouflaged. The production G20 3 Series has been out for two years now, so it’s not as if we don’t know what it looks like. Which means that either whatever this 3 Series Electric ends up looking like, it’s going to have some surprisingly big changes from the standard car, or that this is a facelifted G20 3er as well.

That’s entirely possible, as the design teams at all automakers work on facelifts the moment a car is launched and it’s actually getting close to the time that the G20 3er is due for an LCI facelift. But we don’t know for certain.

We’re very intrigued by this car. The 3 Series is BMW’s bread and butter, so if it gets an all-electric powertrain, the brand could see a massive spike in EV sales. Hopefully, it has the proper power/range ratio to be competitive with the Tesla Model 3 and is priced within normal people’s budgets.

[Source: Motor1]

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Unfortunately, it’s only coming to the Chinese market. Some new spy photos have emerged, showing off this new BMW 3 Series electric, only further tempting us with something we can’t have. (We don’t own the spy photos but they can be seen here)

In these photos, we see a G20-gen 3 Series doing some camouflaged testing on the road. It’s been awhile since we’ve see a G20 wrapped in camo, which tells us that this is a new model. The badges on the car say that it’s an “Electric Test Vehicle”, which isn’t uncommon to see, as all EVs test mules get that badge.

Admittedly, that sign can be for plug-in hybrids as well. However, considering the fact that we’ve already seen the new 3 Series plug-in — the 330e — this is unlikely to be it. It also has no exhaust pipes at all. So it stands to reason that this test mule is an all-electric 3er.

From what we’ve been told, the BMW 3 Series electric is going to be a Chinese-market only car. In these photos, it seems as if it’s testing somewhere in Europe, judging by the license plates. However this could just be for testing. After all, we’ve heard directly from BMW that the 3 Series electric won’t be coming to most markets, with most of the world getting the BMW i4 instead.

According to Autocar, BMW design chief Domagoj Dukec recently told them “electrification is still at the point where some people doubt if they should go for it or not, and it’s still a little more expensive. So electric cars need more emotion, and we believe an electrified i4 makes more sense than an electric 3 Series.”

So if you want an all-electric BMW sedan, you’re going to have to wait for the i4. Considering it will pack over 500 horsepower and all-wheel drive, that doesn’t sound like too much of a compromise.

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