BMW may be planning electric 3 Series
An electric version of BMW’s 7 and 5 Series has already been officially confirmed. According to a British media report, there will eventually also be a BEV offshoot for the 3 Series but not for several years.
According to information from Autocar, the electric 3 Series is to be based on the BMW i4 and could adopt the model designation i3 when production of the current i3 comes to an end. The magazine refers to “sources that are familiar with the production plan”. According to BMW’s latest statement on the future of the current i3, it will receive another battery update and “will continue to be built until 2024”.
A new i3 based on the 3 Series would therefore probably not be possible until 2024 or 2025. Primarily, it would probably be a 3 Series sedan, according to the report, “Insiders don’t rule out the possibility of a 3 Series Touring-based estate.”
Also planned is a purely electric BMW i1, which will compete against the VW ID.3. For the X1, BMW had confirmed a battery-electric iX1 in July. If the i1 assumed by Autocar would be based on the well-known 1-series, BMW would then have announced 1 Series, 3 Series, 5 Series and 7 Series BEV versions of its core lineup. In addition, there are the iX3, the i4 and the series version of the iNext. According to the reports, this one should be called iX5, although unlike the iX1 and iX3 it has nothing to do with the combustion X5. If the board gives the green light, the report says that an electric version of the large SUV iX7 could follow by 2025.
The plans are less concrete for the Mini brand, but there should be at least two new electric models. These are to be “uniquely designed SUVs” based on the iX1 and iX3. With a Mini based on iX3, the brand would bring its probably largest vehicle to date to the market. On the part of BMW, however, such model speculations have not been confirmed.
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