Gas Vs. Electric: Which BMW Goes Further Without Stopping For Fuel?

Range anxiety won't stop being an issue among EV buyers for a while. Customers are still new to EVs, and the entire idea of charging a car is still foreign to many people. So EV range will always be compared to gas-powered range, because that's what most drivers are used to. However, EVs are getting close and closer, if not sometimes surpassing, the range of internal combustion cars, so it's worth showing how the two different technologies actually handle the same distances. In this new video from Chasing Cars, you get to see just that: A BMW iX3 takes on a piston-powered BMW X3 in a range test.

The test was pretty simple, as the two hosts drove a BMW iX3 50 xDrive and a BMW X3 M50 xDrive from Sydney, Australia to Byron Bay. They used normal routes, kept both cars in their Eco settings, and kept the climate controls on their most efficient settings. Both cars were kept at speed limits, and both drivers stopped off if they needed to for whatever reason. So it was indicative of what a real-life road trip would be like.

From start to finish, the trip was 459.8 miles (740 km). When they started, the electric iX3 showed an estimated range of 692 km (430 miiles), so not enough to make it. But even after about 30 km into the trip, the gas-powered X3 M50 showed an estimated 784 km (487 miles) of range, which is quite a bit more than the iX3. Oddly, though, judging by the iX3's efficiency early one, the math indicated that it would make the trip with a few kWh to spare.

Photo by: BMW

It's interesting to see the gas-powered car have so much more range, not because it's gas but because it's the big engine version of the X3. The M50 packs a 3.0-liter turbocharged I6, and while it's a mild hybrid, it makes 393 horsepower and 428 lb-ft of torque. It's the thirstiest of all X3s, at least until the X3 M comes out. But that doesn't make it the most powerful SUV BMW makes in this segment. The iX3 M50 is more powerful, with 463 horsepower and 476 lb-ft of torque. 

Ultimately, the iX3 was able to do 747 km (464 miles) on one charge, which is significantly more than the EPA-rated 434 miles of range. It fell just 23 km (14.2 miles) short of Byron Bay. The X3 M50? It not only made it to the destination, it had 332 km (206 miles) of range left in the tank. So that clearly means it wins the test. However, the iX3 was still massively impressive, and has the sort of range few other EVs on the planet can match. So even though BMW's mild-hybrid straight-six is ultra efficient and tough to beat, that doesn't diminish the iX3's achievement.

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