Hurrah! BMW has launched an all-electric version of the mighty 3 Series, at last taking on Tesla in open competition for compact four-door executive EV glory. This is fantastic news. Or at least it would be if...
Long range, long wheelbase
Hang on, what's this? A 526km range? 285hp? 400Nm of torque? An extra 97km of range for just 10 minutes DC charging? When can I put my order in?
Well, that's the tricky part. You can't. This is indeed the first fully-electric BMW 3 Series, called the BMW i3 eDrive35L, but it's not going to be sold in Europe, and certainly not in Ireland. It's for China only - 'tailor-made for China' as BMW puts it - and there is no prospect of it being sold here.
Sporty driving dynamics
The L designation in the name means that it's actually a long-wheelbase model, with 110mm more space between the axles than the standard 3 Series. That's because Chinese car buyers value having lots of rear legroom, a legacy of a time when most car owners in China still employed chauffeurs. According to BMW, the i3 eDrive35L: "combines a premium rear seat experience with locally emission-free driving. At the same time, the all-electric four-door sedan offers all the sporty driving dynamics, long-distance comfort and wide range of individualisation options for which the BMW 3 Series is so well known."
This new i3 - pilfering as it does the badge from the glorious, but now alas defunct, little all-electric i3 hatchback - also gets a significant tech upgrade over a standard 3 Series, with the latest 'OS8' BMW infotainment software, shared with the liked of the i4 and the iX. It essentially uses the same 210kW electric motor as the iX3 SUV (which we can buy...) and has a battery pack of 66kWh capacity.
Built in China
The i3 eDrive35L will be built in Shengyang, China, as part of BMW's cooperation agreement with China Brilliance Automotive. The German carmaker has a long-standing joint venture with Brilliance, and the combined BMW Brilliance Automotive says that it has made a number of component and dynamic tweaks to the car to suit the Chinese market.