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The BMW iX3 50L has just covered 640 miles on a single charge, and it did it the hard way. BMW ran the long-wheelbase, China-only version of its Neue Klasse SUV from the company’s Shenyang factory to its Beijing research and development site. The two are only around 440 miles apart by the direct route, so BMW plotted something considerably longer to see how far the car would stretch. It rolled in having covered 640 miles exactly, with five per cent still showing on the gauge.
What makes the number interesting is the method. There was no standardised cycle involved here, no laboratory rolling road, no optimistic homologation figure. The car simply drove from one place to another. That matters, because testing regimes vary wildly by market. America’s EPA procedure is the most conservative of the lot, deliberately tuned to reflect real-world driving, while Europe’s WLTP and China’s CLTC are far more generous. This run beat the CLTC’s already flattering 571-mile listing by nearly 100 miles.
The hardware doing the work is a 108.7kWh pack allied to BMW’s Gen6 electric powertrain, which the company claims is up to 20 per cent more efficient than its predecessor. BMW also credits cylindrical battery cells, a slippery body, aggressive energy recovery and smarter thermal management. The full metric figure was 1,030.2km, which BMW calls a range record for one of its electric cars, though it is careful to note the result came on a specific route under specific weather, traffic, load and air-conditioning conditions.
There is a puzzle here too. Back in June, the same car looped Qinghai Lake, roughly 500 miles on public roads in real traffic, finishing with two per cent in reserve. Quite how it found another 140 miles in two months is unclear. A cleverly chosen route accounting for gradient, traffic and temperature is the obvious explanation, and average speed has not been disclosed. Running the battery properly flat and 700 miles was arguably on the cards.
The question now is whether any of this translates. The standard-wheelbase iX3 sold in Europe and heading to America uses the same battery and twin-motor layout, and carries an EPA rating of 434 miles. Its 800-volt Neue Klasse architecture accepts up to 400kW, good for a 10 to 80 per cent top-up in 21 minutes. If BMW can get anywhere near 500 real miles out of it on American roads, the iX3 will sit among the longest-legged cars on sale anywhere.
