The new BMW X3 that’s not an EV is teased ahead of its debut with a camouflaged Prototype as BMW previews its ICE future.
BMW may be going big on electric cars, with a new generation of Neue Klasse cars arriving in the coming years – including a new BMW iX3 – but BMW isn’t daft enough to scrap profitable ICE cars on the alter of EV wokeness just yet.
In fact, although there’s an electric iX3 from the Neue Klasse family on the way, we’re getting a new ICE X3 too, and BMW is previewing it with a camouflaged prototype (above) ahead of a debut expected soon.
Seven years on from the arrival of the current X3, BMW managed to flog 350,000 of them last year so, although there are changes for this new X3 it’s still based on the same CLAR Platform and with evolutionary exterior tweaks.
The new X3 looks bolder than the current model with a wider kidney grille, wider track, bigger wheel arches and sloping roof, growing in size to separate it from the X1 and keep X3 buyers happy.
Inside will be modern BMW with BMW’s latest Android-based OS9 and a pair of screens for infotainment and driver display.
Powertrain variants are expected to be a petrol xDrive20, a diesel xDrive20d, an xDrive 30e plug-in hybrid and a six-pot BMW X3 M50 xDrive, with the PHEV likely to offer pushing on 60 miles of EV range.
ICE-based X3s clearly still matter more than electric iX3s.
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