- BMW says its i3 50 xDrive covered 5886.7km with a total charging time below three hours.
- The journey crossed eight countries using public chargers, with average energy consumption of 12.5kWh/100km.
- Route planning and support vehicles accompanied the demonstration, which used production-equivalent hardware and software, BMW says.
BMW says its new i3 50 xDrive has travelled from Norway’s North Cape to Tarifa in southern Spain with just two hours, 45 minutes and 54 seconds of DC charging along the way.
The 5886.7km journey crossed eight countries, using publicly accessible charging stations throughout. BMW reported average energy consumption of 12.5kWh/100km and average charging power of 275kW for the electric sedan.
Time spent driving was three days, two hours and 41 minutes, at an average speed of 79.7km/h. The much shorter charging figure measures time at the plug; BMW has not presented it as the total journey time.
Planning around the chargers
The drive followed the Paneuropeana challenge, which compares total charging time between specified checkpoints. Participants use ordinary roads, travelling through towns and along motorways, with charging locations left to each team to choose.
That makes route planning part of the result. BMW’s team selected its path around charging infrastructure while accounting for traffic and weather. The challenge’s objective is to minimise charging time, with no incentive to compete for the fastest driving time.
A single engineer drove the i3 throughout. An identical i3 and an iX3 50 xDrive accompanied it as support vehicles, and BMW says all three cars had hardware and software identical to standard production specification.
The result is a BMW-reported demonstration achieved with an organised team and an optimised route. An owner’s charging stops will depend on the available infrastructure, battery condition and travelling conditions.
An 800V electric sedan
The i3 50 xDrive has a 108.7kWh usable battery and an 800V electrical system, supporting DC charging at up to 400kW. Its two motors produce a combined 345kW and 645Nm, with a quoted 0–100km/h time of 4.7 seconds.
BMW lists WLTP range of up to 912km. New Zealand pricing and arrival timing have not been confirmed.
