BMW has just thrown down the gauntlet in the EV range wars, showcasing the phenomenal potential of its second-generation iX3. Unveiled at the 2025 Munich Auto Show, the iX3 is the first vehicle to utilize the highly anticipated Neue Klasse platform and initially boasted a respectable WLTP range of up to 500 miles.
However, in a recent real-world test, BMW shattered its own estimates, managing to drive the electric vehicle an astonishing 626 miles on a single charge, arriving with 2% battery life remaining (about 13 miles to spare). This result is so impressive it instantly elevates the iX3 to a top-tier contender in the EV range landscape.
The test, a long-haul journey from Debrecen, Hungary, to Munich, Germany, required the BMW team to employ some highly specific tactics to maximize efficiency. To begin with, they rigorously avoided highways, ensuring the car maintained the kind of low speeds absolutely essential for squeezing maximum juice out of an electric battery.
Furthermore, the ultimate sacrifices were made in the name of efficiency: the radio was silent, and the air conditioning and heating were strictly prohibited. Finally, the team opted for the most aerodynamically efficient 20-inch M wheels, skipping the more common but less energy-efficient 21 or 22-inch options.
While the achievement proves that driving style can dramatically influence an EV’s range, it humorously highlights a major caveat. This test is utterly unrepresentative of a real-world road trip. The average person buying the new BMW iX3 will not drive at snail-like speeds, nor will they endure an eight-hour journey without music or climate control.
Yet, beyond the extreme test, the iX3 promises genuinely useable convenience. The Neue Klasse platform supports blistering 400kW charging, meaning that when the battery inevitably runs low downtime results minimized. The iX3 can reportedly add over 230 miles of range in just 10 minutes or leap from 10% to 80% charge in a mere 21 minutes. Suddenly, that massive 626-mile figure seems less like a necessity and more like an over-achieving party trick.
