Have BMW just made the combustion car redundant with their 900km range-topping i3? Hold those horses, the Bavarians say no way Jose!

With a diesel-like, almost 1,000km range, with just 100km to go, and half of that now capable of recharging in 10 minutes, have corporate drivers finally found their diesel replacement, 10 years after the black stuff turned toxic?

If numbers are your thing... There have been 7 generations of the BMW 3-Series, spread over half a century, or roughly one every 7 years. But the 8th generation will be the first to feature an i designation – that’s discounting the original i3, which was more of an EV halo car. However, EVs are far from a first for BMW... the latest generation of Neue Klasse models, on which the i3 and iX3 are based, is in fact the 6th generation of BMW EVs, with CEO Zipse saying the advances over the outgoing generation are so vast they have practically skipped a generation.

During a presentation held in Munich this week, BMW rolled out all previous generations of the 3-Series on stage, highlighting the rich brand equity the badge designation commands. Similar to a VW Golf, most Europeans have had at sometime had some form of contact with a 3-Series. The outgoing CEO Oliver Zipse, stepping down due to the age limits in place at the world's largest premium car brand, having commanded the helm since 2019, adding stability, following the relatively short and bumpy tenure of Harald Krüger, preceding him, was welcomed more like rock star royalty by the BMW employees present at the event than a suited and booted Chairman of the Board of Management. It also highlighted the importance and value of the bread-and-butter 3-series family to the company and employees alike, which continues to be manufactured in Munich, alongside the i3, from August.  

Like the other premium BEV models entering the market in 2026, such as the Volvo EX60 and Mercedes GLC and C-Class BEV models, the Neue Klasse architecture is a software-defined vehicle (SDV), allowing high investments to be harvested throughout the lifecycle rather than just at the factory gate.  

While the i3 partly forgoes brashness in its external design, it offers a very idiosyncratic BMW design with key design references. Although no illuminated logos were present, that’s not necessarily required given that the illuminated BMW kidney grill reference, incorporating the lighting cluster, stretches horizontally rather than vertically in past combustion-engine models, it's quite clear what is appearing ever larger in rear-view mirrors. That, thankfully, is about as bling as the design gets. The static display model appears more conservative and well-balanced in real life than earlier images suggested, with the compact proportions very welcome in an ever-growing super-sized world.

BMW Group CEO Oliver Zipse (right) and Head of Design, Adrian van Hooydonk

While the I3 and the IX3 will continue to aid BMW in meeting regulatory emission targets such as the EU’s CO2 fleet emissions targets, and cancelling out any utility factory (UF) change for PHEVs that is scheduled to sharpen during 2027, impacting around one-third of BMW Group’s plug in regional volumes, a BMW government affairs spokesperson told us on the fringes of the event that they are vigorously lobbying against that UF change, as they believe the real-world emissions data doesn’t reflect the market reality of their PHEVs today. The real-world data collected by the EEA shows that PHEVs across the EU emitted just over 100g/km more CO2 than WLTP data suggests during 2023 (the last data set), falling by less than 5g/km between 2021 and 2023. Meanwhile, the Bavarians continue to lobby against the EU CO2 emitting fleet phase-out by 2035 despite their impressive fleet emissions and trajectory credentials, which often causes confusion. The spokesperson went on to tell us that they are calling for a CO2 window beyond 20% to remain open beyond 2035 – or double the European Commission's current proposal – which would be a CO2 landing ground of around 20g/km from 2035. BMW remains unhappy that it is a tailpipe-only measurement, and would prefer a cradle-to-grave approach that would take into account all elements of the vehicle from production, and the use of green steel, to the end-of-life recycling of the vehicle.

According to BMW, in Italy, where BEVs accounted for just 7% of their total Italian new brand volumes last year, while their regional average was 25%, BMW customers are increasingly using HVO 100 (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) to refuel, thanks to the fuel's wide market availability and competitive pricing at the pumps. Over 1,000 fuel stations across the country are currently offering this, while at the meeting of Environmental Ministers in Brussels this week, the Italian Minister called for biofuels to be more deeply incorporated into the CO2 target regulations going forward. However, biofuels still emit CO2 when burned, even though they absorb some CO2 during the growth phase.  

Italy is reflective of other Southern European markets, such as Greece and Spain, where BEV penetration remains firmly below 10% on an annual basis. While lower-priced LFP models coming to market from 2026 will address that slow uptake, alongside Chinese models, gaining higher shares in these brand-agnostic markets, more fiscal incentives, lower energy prices and an increase in infrastructure will be the drivers to accelerate growth. Before that happens, BMW says it has no other option but to pursue its technology neutral drivetrain line-up, no matter how good its BEVs are. Fewer than 6,000 BMW BEV models put of a total of 73,200 were delivered across Italy last year, according to Unrae industry data, making up just 7% of their total deliveries there. Meanwhile, in markets like Germany, over 50,000 BEVs were delivered last year, accounting for every fifth of domestically delivered model featuring the blue and white propeller logo. So in short, BMW is saying, despite overachieving on their EU-wide CO2 fleet target by 2g/km during 2025, which leaves the possibility of gaining credits from 2028-2029 if the 5-year flexibility between 2028 and 2032 is adopted at the European Parliament and Council stage of current CO2 framework negotiations, the Germans wish to see that technology neutral element widened post 2034.

However, in markets where charging infrastructure is in place, the i3 with a WLTP range of 900km can charge, like its IX3 counterpart, at a peak rate of 400kW, meaning, thanks to its 800-volt electronic architecture, the equivalent of 400km of charge in just 10 minutes. That’s largely independent of ambient temperatures thanks to the NMC battery's more stable nature, which BMW was involved in developing with battery partner CATL. Thermal management know-how is also key, of course and that knowledge from the previous 5 generations of EVs no doubt helps. However those impressive speeds are by no means quite as breathtaking once one takes a look at the models arriving from the from the premium peers. Almost comparable speeds will be on offer from Volvo with its new EX60 and Mercedes’ GLC and C-Class later this year. However, while high public charging prices still remain an issue, particularly in Germany, it will continue to prevent some private buyers from switching. PHEV a hedge against geopolitical roller coasters? The current Iran impact on the pumps may alter that, however, although a PHEV is currently becoming an attractive hedge between the two. Meanwhile, in China, where charging prices are just a fraction of those in Europe, the i3 is also ticking more boxes than the outgoing 5th generation EV models. But if the BMW badge can still command both premium value and volume, that will be a big test, as patriotic purchasing patterns and hyper-competition breached premium brand equity moats much faster than many expected. While BMW is sticking firmly with its uniform model line-up, the likes of VW Group are working more closely with Chinese partners to offer models in China for China. However, according to recent press reports, such as from Bloomberg, the first results from those effectively badge-engineered Chinese models are proving not to be the panacea Volkswagen Group had hoped for.

i3 production begins in Bavarian state capital from August, with customer deliveries beginning in the second half of the year. The Chinese version will be presented at the Beijing auto show in a few weeks although head of design, Adrian van Hooydonk, told us on the fringes of the model launch, that the i3 will remain a very much globally deigned model with only very minimal external alterations between markets such as the now common stretched long-wheel base version on offer for Chinese customers that value rear legroom. If that is enough to prevent further market disintegration in China is unclear. BMW appears quietly confident that it has reached a bottom, but a return to the previous peak of above 700,000 MINI and BMW models annually still remains unlikely for now. Neue Klasse will likely act in creating a new floor in China while slowly rebuilding volumes as over 40 updated models enter markets by the end of 2027. In 2025, 625,527 BMW and MINI models were delivered across China, down 12.5% y/y, with BMW saying it has now responded to the Chinese market environment by taking a number of steps to stabilise transaction prices and stated that average sales figures over the past few months indicate that sales in China could reach 2025’s level this year, preventing further falls.  

So while the Southern Germans don't see the i3 as a direct replacement for the 3-Series but as a complementary product, with the ICE and hybrid models still serving markets with lagging charging infrastructure, the i3 takes another step toward achieving 2035 regulatory targets, not through compliance but through joy. Now it's down to infrastructure and utility companies to do their bit.  

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Source: Schmidt Automotive Research 

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*Western Europe 18 Markets: EU Member States prior to the 2004 enlargement plus EFTA markets Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, plus UK