MALAGA, SPAIN — BMW will begin production of its new i3 fully electric vehicle in Munich in August 2026, with customer deliveries scheduled for the second half of 2026. The i3 will be the first fully electric BMW 3 Series model, following more than 50 years of production for the traditional 3 Series line.

The i3 is the second electric vehicle to use BMW's Neue Klasse platform and features the company's sixth-generation electric powertrain with an 800-volt electrical architecture. The vehicle measures 187.4 inches long, 73.4 inches wide, and 58.3 inches tall, with a wheelbase of 114.1 inches.

BMW predicts the i3 will achieve up to 440 miles of range, representing a 30 percent improvement over its fifth-generation electric vehicles. The i3 50 xDrive variant extends this to 560 miles of range and produces 463 horsepower with 476 lb-ft of torque using dual motors. The battery pack can DC fast-charge at up to 400 kW and uses cylindrical cells that are 20 percent more energy-dense by volume than previous prismatic cells.

The vehicle incorporates about 30 percent recycled materials in its construction and uses mono materials to facilitate end-of-life recycling. BMW uses renewable energy throughout the i3's supply chain and estimates the vehicle takes as little as a year to break even with gasoline-powered models in carbon output terms.

The i3's driver assistance systems use gaze-tracking and steering inputs to determine when to intervene, with rules-based algorithms making final decisions rather than machine learning. In advanced mode, the vehicle can comply with posted speed limits, stop at red lights, and resume driving when lights turn green in Germany. Future software updates will enable the system to handle roundabouts and turns.

BMW says the sixth-generation powertrain reduces energy losses by 40 percent, weighs 10 percent less, and costs 20 percent less to produce compared to the fifth-generation system. The company states that regenerative braking should handle 95 percent of braking events and that the i3 will deliver the smoothest stop of any BMW in one-pedal driving mode.

Interior features include physical buttons on the center console, a trapezoidal touchscreen, and a Panoramic Vision display. The i3 includes an onboard AI personal assistant with speech recognition powered by Alexa. The rear seat offers increased legroom, though rear occupants sit higher than front passengers. The i3 supports vehicle-to-load, vehicle-to-home, and vehicle-to-grid power functions.