BMW has just pulled back the curtain on the capabilities of its latest electric-vehicle platform with a striking demonstration in China. The BMW i3 50L covered 1,213 kilometers on a single charge, after a route that mixed highways, interstates, and urban traffic. The sedan arrived at its destination with only 1% of its battery remaining. The feat gives BMW a strong talking point for the progress of its new electric architecture, Neue Klasse.
More than 1,200 kilometers on a single charge
The i3 50L averaged 8.8 kWh per 100 kilometers across the entire test route. BMW says the car reached 118% of its official range in China. This marks a new distance record for the brand in this type of test for an electric vehicle.
To achieve such a distance, the sedan is equipped with a 113.4 kWh battery, paired with an 800-volt electrical architecture—same package as the popular BMW iX3. This setup is intended to boost both efficiency and high-rate charging performance. BMW claims charging power of up to 400 kW, with the ability to add up to 400 kilometers of range in just ten minutes.
The new generation of BMW batteries enters production
The demonstration arrives as BMW begins serial production of its sixth-generation batteries at its Shenyang factory in China. The group invested 10 billion yuan, about $1.5 billion, into the 240,000-square-meter facility. This expanded capacity is designed to support the rollout of the Neue Klasse platform. Batteries destined for the European versions of the BMW i3 are manufactured in Hungary and Germany.
While 1,213 kilometers is impressive, it’s important to frame it within context: this was a controlled test, not daily, easily repeatable range for most drivers. Nonetheless, it illustrates the headway BMW is making in efficiency, pack capacity, and fast-charging capability and even edges out Mercedes’ 1,202-kilometer benchmark set by the EQXX prototype in 2022. BMW achieves a slightly better result—and doing so with a car that customers can buy.
