There’s a new BMW in town — the fully electric i3 50 xDrive. Kinda… For one thing, it’s not here yet. It’s hitting the streets in Q1 2027. For another, it’s only technically new, borrowing the naming convention from one of the German automaker’s most popular cars. This i3, however, has the honour of being the first all-electric 3 Series available in SA. It’ll be built in BMW’s home country, rather than using the company’s local production line.
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Even with a year’s warning, we doubt you’ll be able to scrounge enough from between the couch cushions to stick one of these inside your garage. Pricing is still under wraps at the time of writing, but call it a hunch. After looking at BMW’s claims, we’re confident it’ll slip into the millions. Exactly how many, we’ll have to wait and see.
“As a representative of the new design language, the new BMW i3 is immediately recognisable as a BMW 3 Series – assured, dynamic and intelligent. The hallmark BMW sporty silhouette proportions are reflected in the new 2.5-box design,” it wrote.
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But you can already see all that, right? We’re more interested in the bits you can’t see. Like the i3’s two electric motors, which, when combined, provide an output of 345kW and 645Nm of torque. Each motor sits above one of the axles, giving this sedan four-wheel drive. BMW reckons it’s got more than enough juice stockpiled to deliver a range of 900km (WLTP). And with 400kW DC charging powers, ten minutes is enough to net 400km.
That’s impressive and all, but what about an interior screen to, say, monitor the situation? The i3 is expectedly brimming in that regard. An oddly-shaped 17.9in infotainment display (3,340 x 1,440) dominates the centre console, while the usual driver’s dashboard is projected onto the windscreen. Think of a Windows taskbar. It’s all very smart, but it still lacks the ability to automatically indicate. That one’s still on you, BMW drivers.
