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BMW i3 2022.

BMW i3 2022. BMW’s electric «three», aka restyled.

Photos of the BMW i3 electric sedan, which will hit the market in the next few months along with an updated conventional three with an internal combustion engine, have surfaced in the electronic database of China’s Ministry of Industry.

China is the main market for the BMW 3 Series: from January to October of this year, according to the resource CarSalesBase, 146,799 copies of this model were sold here, 28.3% more than during the same period in 2020 — the best result in the segment of mid-size premium sedans (Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4 sold worse — 109,020 and 103,920 units during the first ten months of this year, respectively).

Recall that in China the locally produced «three» is offered with a longer wheelbase and the prefix L to the name, and in general the current generation G20 of the Bavarian bestseller is known since the fall of 2018, when its world premiere in Paris took place.

It’s about time for a planned G20 restyling, but the Chinese Ministry of Industry has so far only an electric version of the i3, made, apparently, using the same recipe as the Chinese BMW iX3.

A subcompact electric hatchback with an eccentric design and high-tech body with lots of carbon fiber components was offered on the global market under the index i3 for the last ten years, but this advanced for its time model will soon leave the scene, and instead of it the index i3 will «duty» electric 3 Series.

This replacement was known about last November, and now we can look at it.

The new BMW i3 looks, in fact, the same as the usual three, the electric car in it give out only branded nostrils with plugs and blue trim plus a special design of the rear bumper without exhaust pipes with blue «electromobile» decor.

Other innovations for sure will be common for all «three», namely, new headlights without a cutout at the bottom, a redesigned front bumper with enlarged side sections and decorative «clubs» on the sides in the style of the older 5 Series and 7 Series (the electric i4 liftback also has these «clubs»). The design of the taillights doesn’t seem to have changed.

The stern of the new i3 has a nameplate eDrive35 L — Chinese media write that it implies a single electric motor on the rear axle with a capacity of 250 kW (340 hp).

The electric sedan is equipped with air suspension, dimensions are slightly increased, no other details are available yet.

There are no pictures of the interior yet, but it is likely to be the same as the BMW i4, that is, it will have a new branded dual-screen display.

But the main intrigue consists not in the technology, but in how Chinese electric «three» will be global and whether it will be at all.

We believe that in Europe it can be brought in the same way as the BMW iX3 (it is offered exclusively with rear-wheel drive), but America is likely to wait for a completely new electric «three», which will debut around 2025 — it will have a more advanced electric vehicle platform and driving range on a single charge of about 700 km.