With this SUV, BMW has counted out the combustion engine
With an 800-kilometer range and an attractive price, BMW has turned the IAA into a showcase for the already beleaguered German auto industry. The new technology is threatening not only its own gasoline and diesel models, but also all older electric cars: Their depreciation is likely to accelerate dramatically. A snapshot of the mood at the world premiere.
It was like the good old days of the German auto industry when BMW, Mercedes, and the like presented a new model: Hundreds of journalists from all over the world crowded onto the show stage, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse took the stage, and the star of the evening—in this case, Friday afternoon—drone onto the stage to a light and music show: the brand-new iX3, all-electric and the most important model for the Munich-based company in a long time. Applause from the ranks of the approximately 700 guests, many "oohs" and "ahs," and then a rush to the exhibits to inspect every detail of the new car.
The new model (see the video below for a complete presentation) is a small revolution for BMW, and for several reasons:
- The latest battery technology is said to deliver a range of up to 800 kilometers from a battery capacity of "just" 108 kilowatt hours. Even if the actual range is only 600 to 700, that's significantly more than previous generations of electric vehicles. The leaps that e-mobility makes from car to car are, at least currently, much greater than from one combustion engine to the next.
- With 400 kilowatts of charging power, the Munich-based company promises a real alternative to combustion engines, even on long journeys.
- The new operating concept with its impressive head-up display will require some adjustment for BMW customers, but will gradually have to be integrated into all new BMW models.
At the world premiere in the Eisbach Studios in Munich, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse invoked the pioneering spirit of the BMW brand and spoke of a new era ushering in with the New Class. By 2027, BMW plans to launch 14 new or updated models, including the next i3 as an electric 3 Series. The fact that BMW, unlike many other manufacturers, continues to rely on combustion-engine models makes the iX3 all the more significant: BMW is one of the few automakers not to simply jettison the "old" world, but to phase it out in a controlled manner – and, where appropriate, to continue offering and developing it. For example, BMW is also relying on the alternative climate-friendly diesel HVO, which its diesel cars are filled with ex-factory, and is boldly showcasing this topic at its IAA booth at a trade fair otherwise dominated by electric models.
And, quite incidentally, the car also demonstrates that the supposedly unassailable Chinese are not, after all, unassailable. This is all the more remarkable given that China operates with a much larger armada of engineers, resources, and financial means than Germany. A certain exhaustion is evident among the BMW managers and developers at the big iX3 event in Munich, but they can also pat themselves on the back: When the iX3 arrives, and the next models of the New Class do too, the four years of hard work will have paid off.
And something else about the new electric SUV demonstrates BMW's approach: The monster kidney grille, which controversially adorned many models, right up to the grotesque XM, has disappeared, replaced by a narrower one. The historic BMW 1500, which BMW also exhibited at the side of its show, has thus actually managed to transfer some of its genes into the year 2025.
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