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BMW i3 50 xDrive Covers 5,886 Kilometres with Less Than Three Hours of Charging
The BMW i3 50 xDrive covered 5,886.7 kilometres from Norway’s North Cape to Tarifa, Spain, across eight European countries.
The electric car completed the journey with only 2 hours, 45 minutes and 54 seconds of charging, using publicly accessible charging stations.
The drive highlighted the i3’s efficiency, with average consumption of 12.5 kWh per 100 kilometres, along with its 800-volt system and charging capacity of up to 400 kW.
BMW has demonstrated the long-distance capabilities of its upcoming BMW i3 50 xDrive during a demanding Paneuropeana journey from Norway’s North Cape to Tarifa in southern Spain. The car covered 5,886.7 kilometres across eight countries and needed only 2 hours, 45 minutes and 54 seconds of charging during the trip.
The Paneuropeana is a European electric-car challenge launched by Rafael de Mestre. It is designed to compare the efficiency, charging speed and long-distance capability of electric vehicles. The main objective is to complete a route through Europe via specified checkpoints with the shortest possible total charging time. The challenge is not about driving at maximum speed. Instead, participants use normal public roads, including motorways, country roads and routes through towns.
For BMW’s attempt, the journey began at the North Cape, one of the northernmost points in continental Europe accessible by car. It ended in Tarifa, located at the southern tip of mainland Spain. The charging stops were not predetermined, which meant the team had to plan its route around available public charging stations. Weather conditions, traffic and the distance between charging points also played an important role in the strategy.
The BMW i3 50 xDrive completed the journey with an average energy consumption of 12.5 kWh per 100 kilometres. This was below the vehicle’s official combined WLTP consumption range of 13.4 to 18 kWh per 100 kilometres. The total driving time was 3 days, 2 hours and 41 minutes, with an average speed of 79.7 km/h.
During the journey, the car charged at an average power of 275 kW. Its sixth-generation BMW eDrive system uses an 800-volt electrical architecture and supports DC charging of up to 400 kW. BMW says the vehicle can gain up to 423 kilometres of WLTP range in 10 minutes when connected to a suitable high-power charging station.
The i3 50 xDrive is powered by two electric motors, with one motor on each axle. The system produces 345 kW, or 469 horsepower, and delivers maximum torque of 645 Nm. It can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds and reach a top speed of 200 km/h. The car uses a 108.7 kWh usable battery and has a claimed WLTP range of up to 912 kilometres.
Efficiency was central to the vehicle’s performance. The BMW i3 has a drag coefficient of 0.21, which BMW describes as the lowest of any BMW model to date. Its tyres have rolling resistance that is 14 percent better than the requirement for an ‘A’ efficiency rating. The car also uses advanced regenerative braking, with BMW’s “Heart of Joy” control system managing more than 95 percent of braking through the electric motors. This helps recover energy and return it to the high-voltage battery.
BMW says the journey improved on the previous Paneuropeana record from 2017 by more than seven hours. The main vehicle was driven by a single engineer and was supported by another BMW i3 and a BMW iX3. All the vehicles used in the journey matched the hardware and software specifications of the standard production models.
The new BMW i3 will be the first fully electric BMW 3 Series based on the company’s Neue Klasse platform. With its long claimed range, high charging capacity and low energy consumption, the North Cape-to-Tarifa journey shows how BMW is combining performance with greater practicality for long-distance electric travel.
