BMW iX3 30L 2026: LFP Battery, Price and Range Explained

BMW's China-only iX3 30L pairs a 77 kWh LFP battery with a 269,900 yuan starting price, 630 km CLTC range and a 22-minute 10–80% DC charge.

Author: Daria Kashirina

10:31 23-08-2026

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BMW has fitted an LFP battery to a series-production iX3 for the first time. The most affordable Chinese version, the iX3 30L, gets a 77 kWh battery pack and starts at 269,900 yuan. This isn’t a rumor: BMW’s Chinese division has already published the specs and pricing officially.

The main difference between the 30L and the pricier variants is hidden in the battery itself. BMW calls it lithium iron phosphate outright. That chemistry is cheaper, needs no nickel or cobalt, and typically lasts longer, though it trails behind higher energy-density packs.

The rest of the Chinese iX3 lineup uses NMC cells. Even so, the cost-cutting hasn’t turned the base iX3 into a short-range EV. The 30L is rated at 630 km on the Chinese CLTC cycle, with energy consumption around 13 kWh/100 km and a 10–80% DC charge in roughly 22 minutes. Comparing 630 km CLTC directly with European WLTP figures isn’t accurate, though — the Chinese cycle tends to produce more optimistic numbers.

BMW iX3 / Chengdu Auto Show 2026 — © B. Naumkin / Tarantas.News

Above it sits the iX3 40L xDrive, priced from 299,900 yuan. It gets two motors, all-wheel drive and an 86.9 kWh pack rated at 702 km CLTC. The range-topping 50L xDrive starts at 339,900 yuan and carries a 113.4 kWh battery good for 919 km CLTC; ten minutes on a fast charger is claimed to add up to 418 km of range.

For Europe, BMW chose a different base configuration. The iX3 40 is rear-wheel drive, makes 320 hp, and pairs an 82.6 kWh usable battery with up to 637 km WLTP. Peak DC charging power is 300 kW, and a 10–80% charge takes 21 minutes. So the real story here isn’t the Chinese price — it’s the Neue Klasse architecture itself.

BMW previously emphasized its new cylindrical Gen6 cells with higher energy density; now it has shown that the same platform also accommodates cheaper LFP chemistry. For now, the iX3 30L is China-only, and BMW hasn’t announced an LFP version for Europe. But the technical feasibility has already been proven in a production car — giving BMW’s future affordable EVs another way to cut costs.

BMW recently added a more affordable iX3 40 without cutting the price of the already-on-sale iX3 50 xDrive.