BMW Concept iX3 previews a new ELECTRIC X3 SUV for 2020

The BMW Concept iX3 has been revealed at the Beijing Motor Show, previewing an electric X3 SUV for 2020 with 266bhp and a 70kWh battery.

BMW has been running teasers for the iX3 Concept ahead of its reveal at the Beijing Motor Show, but all they really gave away was a few highlights of blue and a new shape kidney grille. And, apart from its battery electric powertrain, that’s almost all there is to visually separate the iX3 from its ICE brethren,

Apart from the reshaped kidney grille and blue highlights, the iX3 gets less ventilation from the front for a smoother nose, the sills and rear diffuser get a tweak (a blue tweak at that) and there’s a set of slippery lightweight wheels, so if this iX3 Concept is anything to go by then BMW’s future electric models are going to be remarkably similar to their ICE counterparts.

Under the skin is BMW’s latest electric powertrain which bundles the motor, transmission and electronics in to a new Electric Drive Component, with more dense batteries offering weight and packaging advantages too.

BMW say the iX3 gets a battery pack ‘more than’ 70kWh to power the 266bhp electric motor, although it would seem likely that any production model could get an additional rear axle electric motor to add to that and deliver 4WD and impressive performance. Although if they do that then they may need a bigger battery to deliver the quoted range of 249 miles, but as the iX3 can handle 150kW Rapid Charging there shouldn’t be too much range anxiety from owners.

The BMW iX3 will arrive in 2020, a bit behind the curve as the Jaguar I-Pace is already on sale and Audi’s e-tron and Mercedes’ EQ C are about to arrive.