BMW’s Electric 3 Series Is So Popular That Orders Opened Months Early

Orders were originally slated to begin in the fall for the new BMW i3. But as soon as people got a good look at the sedan after its unveiling in Munich back in March, demand turned out to be so strong that BMW has reportedly decided to open orders for the electric 3 Series this week. Orders for the "1st Edition" of the i3 go live on June 18th, as per reports from Automobilwoche.

It is a rare thing for a manufacturer to accelerate its own timeline, and it puts the i3 in some interesting company. When Tesla unveiled the Model 3, demand was so intense that Elon Musk opened online ordering ahead of schedule, with people physically queuing outside Tesla stores worldwide to secure a deposit spot. However, unlike most EV launches, BMW isn't asking buyers to compromise on range. At up to 559 miles (CLTC), the BMW i3 actually advertises a longer driving range than many gasoline sedans can manage on a tank of fuel, while offering nearly 470 horsepower and all-wheel drive.

The Numbers That Forced BMW’s Hand

BMW's sales chief, Jochen Goller, used BMW’s iX3 electric SUV as a gauge to measure how the i3 would do in terms of sales. The iX3, itself positively received at its unveiling, racked up over 50,000 orders, going on to sell over 10,000 units in Europe in two months. With that being seen as an excellent performance by any yardstick, the interest in the i3 is reported to be even greater than that. With so many people interested in the electric 3 Series, it’s no wonder that BMW decided to open up the order books early. 

The timing is notable because BMW's EV business is already growing faster than many rivals. While several manufacturers have scaled back electric vehicle targets amid slowing demand, BMW has continued posting strong EV sales growth in Europe and China, giving it confidence to expand its Neue Klasse lineup aggressively.

A Win For Sedans In The Making

BMW has been fairly open about wanting it to reignite interest in the midsize sedan, a segment that has spent years losing ground to SUVs. The numbers the electric 3 Series arrives with are hard to argue against. That said, the headline 559-mile figure comes from China's CLTC test cycle, which is typically more generous than EPA estimates. A US-rated version would likely arrive with a substantially lower official range figure, though still expected to rank among the longest-range EVs in its class.

The i3 also carries expectations beyond simple sales numbers. It is one of the first volume models built on BMW's Neue Klasse architecture, a platform the company says will deliver major gains in efficiency, charging speed, software capability, and production costs. In many ways, BMW's entire EV strategy rides on cars like this succeeding. The real question hanging over all of this is a production one. BMW set August as its Munich plant start date and has not budged on that, which means a months-long gap between people handing over deposits and actually getting their cars.

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