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BMW iX3 sDrive75 To Feature RWD, 75-kWh Battery

BMW iX3 40 photos
Photo: Stefan Baldauf/SB-Medien
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When BMW presented the Concept iX3 at the Auto China 2018 in Beijing, the Germans did mention the all-electric crossover features a specially developed rear axle subframe and an electric motor with more than 200 kW on tap.
That’s 272 PS or 268 horsepower, which is fairly conservative for a compact-sized vehicle which weighs more than 1.7 tonnes when specified with rear-wheel drive and a 2.0-liter turbo diesel.

In all likelihood, the iX3 will tip the scales in the ballpark of two tonnes. The X3 xDrive30 plug-in hybrid also happens to be on the heavy side of crossovers, and this gets us to BMW Blog. According to an insider, the building block for the iX3 is the G08 long-wheelbase X3 from China and the nameplate on the tailgate will read sDrive75.

sDrive is BMW for two-wheel drive, leading us to believe the iX3 will feature an electric motor between the rearmost wheels. 75 denotes the capacity of the battery in kilowatt-hours, which leads us to Tesla. Give or take a few cells, the battery in the Model Y has a similar capacity while delivering 325 miles (523 kilometers) of range.

BMW claims more than 400 kilometers (249 miles) on the WLTP cycle, which happens to be a bit wishful thinking when compared to the testing procedures of the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States. From the get-go, it’s crystal clear the iX3 will play second fiddle to the electric crossover from Fremont, California and Shanghai, China.

Speaking of which, chairman of the board Harald Kruger confirmed that production of the iX3 will be handled by the BMW Brilliance Automotive joint venture in China. Given these circumstances, there’s no denying the iX3 will join the import tariff victims club because BMW plans to sell this model in the U.S. starting in 2020 for the 2021 model year. For the time being, the Germans haven’t announced if another facility will second the one in China.

“The U.S. model is said to come standard with self-driving capabilities,” highlighted BMW Blog, “but it’s unclear at what level.”
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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