BMW i3 50L range test: 1,213 km, 8.8 kWh/100 km and what the result means
BMW's China-spec i3 50L completed a 1,213 km road test with 1% charge remaining and a reported 8.8 kWh/100 km average, but it was not a certification cycle.
The new electric BMW i3 50L covered 1,213 km without recharging and reached the finish with 1% energy remaining. At the BMW China event, the result was described as roughly 118% of the car's nominal figure. The reported average consumption is even more striking at just 8.8 kWh per 100 km.
A simple calculation shows that 1,213 km at an average of 8.8 kWh per 100 km corresponds to about 106.7 kWh of energy. The tested configuration is reported with a 113.4 kWh battery. Those figures should not be compared directly, however: the displayed average consumption is rounded, and the usable capacity of the test car's battery has not been specified separately.
The test took place on public roads in China and included expressways, ordinary roads and urban sections. The available materials do not disclose the average speed, ambient temperature, vehicle load or use of climate control. Treating 1,213 km as the i3's normal driving range would therefore be misleading: this was a special road endurance run, not a certification cycle.
There is an interesting comparison. In August, BMW officially reported another road test in which the iX3 50L covered 1,030.2 km without charging and finished with 5% energy remaining. The sedan's new result is 182.8 km higher. But these were different vehicles and different runs, so the gap alone does not prove that the i3 will go farther in everyday driving.
The tested car is a rear-wheel-drive, long-wheelbase i3 50L developed for China. The electric sedan uses Neue Klasse technology, including an 800-volt electrical architecture and a new generation of cylindrical battery cells. Peak DC charging power reaches 400 kW. The range will also include an all-wheel-drive version with two motors and a system output of 345 kW.
The European BMW i3 50 xDrive differs from the long-wheelbase Chinese car. BMW quotes up to 906 km WLTP, a 108.7 kWh battery and 345 kW, or 469 hp, for the European model. These figures cannot be compared directly with the Chinese endurance run because both the vehicle versions and the range assessment methods are different.
BMW has already presented the long-wheelbase i3 in China, while customer deliveries are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027 according to the manufacturer's official timetable.