We knew it was going to be the next iX3. You knew it was going to be the next iX3. Now BMW has once again confirmed that yes, the first of six new ‘Neue Klasse’ electric cars will indeed be the next iX3.
And BMW boss Oliver Zipse confirmed der neue Neue Klasse iX3 will be unveiled this September at a motor show in Munich. Soon after that, der neue Neue Klasse we’re all waiting for will arrive: the electric 3-Series-sized sedan.
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But first, this SUV. As you can see it’s currently undergoing a punishing bootcamp regime in South Africa putting its lung capacity, speed, stamina and all manner of inapplicable analogies to the test. Heart, too.
Of course electric cars don’t have lungs, but this one does have capacity – the batteries it deploys are 20 percent more energy dense than what’s available today. Plus, the entire car – and Neue Klasse series – runs on 800V architecture.
Fast, too, because it’ll charge 30 percent quicker than now, and will sprint for longer, BMW claiming 30 percent more range than its current EVs. And what about heart?
“It is hard to put into words exactly how it feels behind the wheel,” said Zipse. “You simply have to experience it.”
We saw a version of it buried within the unhinged ‘VDX’ prototype, which is BMW’s Neue Klasse test mule. A mule that can kick, because it generates over 10,000Nm torque, all marshalled by BMW’s so-called ‘Heart of Joy’, which is a big central brain controlling the dynamics and powertrain.
