BMW has recently announced that it will upgrade two mainstays of its plug-in hybrid lineup in the U.S. with the new 2020 X5 xDrive 45e and an updated 530e for 2019.
In between, BMW now says it will launch a new plug-in hybrid version of its bestselling model, the X3 for the 2020 model year.
The 2020 BMW X3 xDrive 30e gets 31 miles of plug-in range from a 12-kilowatt hour battery, and has a turbocharged 2.0-liter I-4 to take it farther. The battery is almost 20 percent larger than the one in the current version of the plug-in X5 xDrive40e.
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In September, BMW announced that the next version of the X5 plug-in hybrid will have up to 50 miles of electric range.
As the xDrive 30e name implies in BMW-speak, the X3 plug-in hybrid will come standard with all-wheel drive, just like its big brother the X5 xDrive 40e.
It uses a mechanical all-wheel drive system, also like the X5, and the engine drives through an 8-speed automatic gearbox, which houses the electric motor.
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The total output of the electric motor and engine combined is 252 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque, though the plug-in X3 includes an XtraBoost feature that will provide an additional 41 horsepower from the electric motor as long as the batteries are charged.
BMW says the car can sprint from 0-62 mph in 6.5 seconds.
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The X3 xDrive30e is scheduled to go on into production at BMW's Spartanburg, South Carolina factory next December and the company confirmed it will be sold in the U.S.
By then, it may not be the only plug-in version of the X3 on sale. BMW is also expected to have the iX3 all-electric version of the X3 on sale late this year, the first of its new generation of electric cars built on its existing car platforms. It is expected to be built in China.
