![BMW gives a sneak peek at the new i3 and iX3 during final stages of testing [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/BMW-i3-iX3.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
BMW gives a sneak peek at the new i3 and iX3 during final stages of testing [Video]
BMW is preparing to launch its next-gen EVs, promising to deliver significantly more range, faster charging, and advanced new tech. With their debut just around the corner, BMW is giving us a closer look at the upcoming i3 and iX3 as it wraps up testing.
BMW’s new i3 and iX3 EVs are coming soon
The first Neue Klasse model, the iX3, will go into series production later this year, followed shortly after by the i3.
Although we will learn full specs later this year, BMW said its advanced new 800V platform is a “quantum leap forward” delivering 30% faster charging while boosting range by up to 30%. Even better, it will enable lower prices.
The platform will house BMW’s next-gen electric motors (up to four) and batteries. BMW confirmed the new NMC batteries feature its new Gen6 cylindrical cells, which are 20% more energy dense than the previous prismatic cells.
For the first time, BMW’s “Heart of Joy” ECU combines the drivetrain and driving dynamics into one single unit to maximize efficiency.
The ECU was developed 100% in-house, featuring four “super brains” that provide “more than 20 times the computing power” compared to BMW’s current vehicles. In other words, BMW’s next-gen iX3 and i3 will be smarter, more powerful, and more efficient than ever.
With testing nearly complete, we are getting a closer look at BMW’s upcoming Neue Klasse. BMW previewed the new i3 and iX3 testing under extreme conditions.
BMW’s electric SUV was shown ripping across South Africa’s desert during “final preparations” for hot-land testing as it gears up for its big debut later this year.
The gas-powered X3 is one of BMW’s top-selling vehicles and will still be sold alongside the upcoming EV version.
Meanwhile, the i3 sedan will follow the iX3 as the second electric vehicle based on BMW’s new platform. It was shown during cold weather testing in Sweden, skating across the icy tundra. The i3 will also make an official appearance later this year before launching in early 2026.
As you can see, BMW updated the new generation with a refined face and sportier overall feel. The signature kidney grille remains, but cameras and radars power new ADAS features.
We will find out more later, but to give you an idea, the 2024 i4 has an EPA-estimated range of up to 301 miles and fast charging (10% to 80%) in 31 minutes. A 30% improvement would suggest a range of around 390 miles and fast charging in less than 22 minutes.
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The US solar industry just delivered another huge quarter, installing 11.7 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity in Q3 2025. That makes it the third-largest quarter on record and pushes total solar additions this year past 30 GW – despite the Trump administration’s efforts to kneecap clean energy.
According to the new “US Solar Market Insight Q4 2025” report from Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, 85% of all new power added to the grid during the first nine months of the Trump administration came from solar and storage. And here’s the twist: Most of that growth – 73% – happened in red states.
Eight of the top 10 states for new installations fall into that category, including Texas, Indiana, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Utah, Kentucky, and Arkansas. Utah jumped into the top 10 this quarter thanks to two big utility-scale projects totaling more than 1 GW.
But the report also flags major uncertainty ahead. Federal actions, including a July memo from the Department of the Interior (DOI), have slowed or stalled the approvals pipeline for utility-scale solar and storage. Without clarity on permitting timelines, Wood Mackenzie’s long-term utility-scale forecast through 2030 remains basically unchanged from last quarter.
“This record-setting quarter for solar deployment shows that the market is continuing to turn to solar to meet rising demand,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA’s president and CEO. She added that strong growth in red states underscores how decisively the market is shifting toward clean energy. “But unless this administration reverses course, the future of clean, affordable, and reliable solar and storage will be frozen by uncertainty, and Americans will continue to see their energy bills go up.”
Two new solar module factories opened this year in Louisiana and South Carolina, adding a combined 4.7 GW of capacity. That brings the total new US module manufacturing capacity added in 2025 to 17.7 GW. With a new wafer facility coming online in Michigan in Q3, the US can now produce every major component of the solar module supply chain.
“We expect 250 GW of solar to be installed from 2025 to 2030,” said Michelle Davis, head of solar research at Wood Mackenzie and lead author of the report. “But the US solar industry has more potential. With rising power demand across the country, solar could do even more if current constraints were eased.”
SEIA also noted that, following an analysis of EIA data, it found that more than 73 GW of solar projects across the US are stuck in permitting limbo and at risk of politically motivated delays or cancellations.
Read more: EIA: Solar + storage soar as fossil fuels stall through September 2025
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The spiritual successor to the beloved Chevy Geo Tracker, production of the new-for-2026 electric Spark EUV has officially begun in Brazil with more than 200 miles of range.
That’s right, kids. To know the Chevy Tracker is to love the Chevy Tracker. The tiny, top-heavy Suzuki-based SUV combined bold colors, fun styling, (relatively) good fuel economy, and real off-road chops (especially in ZR2 trim) with an affordable price tag to make the Tracker an early favorite among the serious rock-crawling crowds.
Like, really
While it’s still too early to tell whether or not the all-new Chevy Spark EUV will come even close to that little proto-SUV, it seems we won’t have to wait much longer to find out – GM Authority reports that production of the 2026 Chevy Spark EUV has officially begun at Comexport’s Planta Automotiva do Ceará (PACE) plant, in the state of Ceará, Brazil.
GM Brazil invested the equivalent of $73 million to get the PACE factory ready to assemble GM’s modern, zero-emissions Chevy crossover for the South American and Middle Eastern markets – an investment big enough to earn a visit from Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was on-hand for the December 3rd kickoff event.
“It’s not a car factory,” said Comexport Vice President and PACE shareholder, Rodrigo Teixeir. “(The) goal is to develop technology there, not simply assemble a vehicle.”
Production of the new Spark EUV began last week, with production of the equally new Chevy Captiva EV set to begin as early as Q1 of 2026.
2026 Chevy Spark EUV
The Made in Brazil Chevrolet Spark EUV is heavily based on the Chinese Baojun, and is powered by that vehicle’s single 75 kW (101 hp), 180 Nm (130 lb-ft) motor driving the front wheels. Power comes from the Baojun’s 42 kWh LFP battery that, with regenerative braking, is good for up to 360 km (220 miles) on the NEDC driving cycle.
Weirdly, the new Spark is also equipped with a 10.1″ infotainment screen and 8.8″ digital instrument cluster (above) that supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto standard – technology that GM claims lead to “unsafe” driver behaviors in North America.
Let us know what you think of the little electric SUV, and whether or not you think it would be a hit in the US (it would) in the comments.
SOURCE: GM Authority; images by GM, Harry Situations.
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