Every BMW Electric Car: Range, Price and Specs

BMW sells five fully electric models in the United States: the i4, i5, i7, iX and,
until 2021, the i3. This page lists every one of them with the range, power and weight EPA
certified for it — and then covers the thing that changes the range of a new BMW by up to
46 miles without changing the car at all.

Everything below comes from EPA certification filings and Transport Canada vehicle
specifications, the same records behind our specification pages. Where
a figure is not published we leave the cell empty rather than estimating it.

Every electric BMW sold in America

That is 128 individually certified versions across twelve model years. Two things in
the table are worth saying out loud.

The i3 is a different kind of car from the rest. Its 81-mile range in
2014 is a quarter of what an i4 manages today, and its 113–124 MPGe is still the
highest efficiency figure BMW has ever certified in America. It was a small, light,
carbon-bodied car designed around a small battery. Everything since has been a
conventional BMW with a large battery in it, and the efficiency figures have gone down
while the range has gone up.

The i7 is the heaviest BMW on record. At 6,243–6,343 lb the i7
xDrive60 and M70 outweigh every other vehicle in our specification database, including the
XM at 6,063 lb and every X7 ever certified. The i7 M70 is also
the most powerful BMW we hold a certified figure for, at 650 hp.

Wheel size changes the range by more than the version does

This is the part almost no listing mentions and it is on the official record. EPA
certifies each wheel size separately, because tyre rolling resistance and aerodynamics
change the result. On the 2026 iX:

Same car, same battery, same motor. Forty-six miles — 13% of the range —
between the smallest and largest wheel. The efficiency figure moves 12 MPGe with it.

The i4 shows the effect even more sharply because its wheel options bracket a wider
spread relative to the car. The 2026 i4 M60 xDrive is rated at 278 miles on 19-inch wheels
and 232 miles on 20-inch — a 46-mile drop for one inch. The
eDrive40 falls from 333 miles on 18-inch wheels to 307 on 19-inch.

Put the two together and something counter-intuitive follows: an i4 eDrive40 on
18-inch wheels (333 miles, 335 hp) travels 101 miles further than an i4 M60 on 20-inch
wheels (232 miles, 593 hp). The cheaper car with the smaller wheels has half again the
range of the fast one.

If range is what you are buying, the wheel option is a bigger lever than the model
variant. It is also the only one of the two you can change later.

The range spread inside each model

Because of that, a single “range” figure for an electric BMW is close to meaningless.
The honest form is a span, and the spans are wide:

The i7 has the narrowest spread of the current cars, which is the opposite of what its
size suggests. The iX has the widest, because it has been certified with four wheel sizes
in three power outputs across five model years.

The i3’s 81-to-153 spread is a different phenomenon entirely: it is the battery growing
over time. The 2014–2016 cars were rated at 81 miles; 2017 was certified at both 81
and 114 as the larger battery arrived mid-run; 2018 at 114; and 2019–2021 at 153.
Same model, same body, three batteries and a doubling of range in six years.

That progression is the most useful thing in the i3’s record for a used buyer, because
none of it is visible from outside the car. Three i3s of different years on the same
forecourt look identical and differ by 72 miles of certified range, and the model year is
the only reliable way to tell which is which.

The electric cars are the combustion cars

Four of the five share a body with a petrol BMW, and the dimensions confirm it rather
than merely resembling it. The i5 measures 199.2 inches, exactly like the current
5 Series. The i7 measures 212.2 inches, exactly like the
7 Series. The i4 is 188.2 inches, the 4 Series Gran Coupe
body.

What they do not share is mass. Comparing the same model year in our records, the i5
runs 5,027–5,247 lb against 4,158–4,916 lb for the 5 Series — 869 lb at
the light end of each range, carried by the battery. The i7 against the 7 Series is a
similar story at a higher absolute weight.

The iX is the exception: it has no combustion twin. At 194.9–195.3 inches it sits
between the X5 and the X7 in length and
belongs to neither.

What about the iX1, iX2 and iX3?

They are not sold in the United States, and there is no ambiguity about it in the
record: EPA has never certified an iX1, iX2 or iX3 for US sale, so none of them appears in
our specification database at all. They exist in Europe and other markets. If you have seen
one written up as part of “BMW’s US electric range”, that write-up is describing a
different market’s price list.

Plug-in hybrids: the other half of the range

BMW sells more plug-in hybrid versions in America than fully electric ones. Our records
hold 64 PHEV versions across nine model lines:

The horsepower column here needs a caveat that the electric cars do not need. On a
plug-in hybrid the EPA certification figure describes the combustion engine, not the
combined system output BMW advertises — which is why the 330e reads as 180 hp. Treat
it as the engine rating, not as how the car accelerates.

The two entries at the bottom of the economy column are worth noting for what they say
about where plug-in hybrids ended up. The M5 and the XM are
BMW’s most powerful road cars and both are plug-in hybrids returning 13–14 mpg
combined. The technology arrived as an efficiency measure and is now also being used as a
power measure.

Power has gone up faster than range

Set the earliest and latest certifications of each current model side by side and a
pattern appears that the marketing does not emphasise: BMW’s electric cars have gained
power considerably faster than they have gained range.

The iX arrived in 2022 certified at 516 hp with a 305–324 mile range. The 2026
iX is certified at up to 570 hp with a top range of 364 miles — up 10% on power and
up 12% on range, which is balanced. But the range figure at the bottom of the iX
span has fallen from 305 miles to 279 over the same period, because the newer cars are
certified on wheel sizes up to 23 inches that the 2022 car was not.

The i4 shows the same thing more plainly. Its 2022 certifications span
227–301 miles at 335–536 hp. Its 2026 certifications span 232–333 miles
at 282–593 hp. The top of the power column has risen 57 hp; the bottom of the range
column has moved by five miles in four years.

Neither of those is a criticism of the cars. It is a reason to distrust headline
range figures for electric BMWs specifically: the number quoted is almost always the best
version on the smallest wheels, and the span underneath it has been getting wider, not
narrower.

How fast the range is electrifying

Counting every version certified for US sale, the share that is fully electric or
plug-in hybrid:

The shape of that column is the story: nothing much happens for eight years, then the
share triples in three. Note also what the denominator does — it does not grow. BMW is not
adding electric versions to an expanding range; it is replacing combustion versions inside
a range of roughly constant size.

The third category nobody counts

Fully electric and plug-in hybrid are the two categories everyone lists. Our records
carry a third that is larger than the plug-in hybrids and gets no attention at all:
136 mild-hybrid versions, certified under EPA’s records as a distinct fuel
type.

A mild hybrid cannot be plugged in and cannot drive on electricity alone. A small
electrified starter-generator assists the engine and recovers energy under braking. From a
buyer’s point of view it is a petrol car, and BMW badges it as one — a 530i xDrive of
recent years is a mild hybrid and says nothing about it on the boot.

The full count of every version certified for US sale, by what it runs on:

Read as a whole, that is the actual shape of BMW’s American range across four decades:
petrol overwhelmingly, then a category most buyers have never heard of, then the electric
cars, then the plug-ins, and diesel smaller than all of them.

The diesel figure is the one that surprises people who remember the 328d and 535d.
Thirty-eight versions across the whole record is fewer than the iX alone has been certified
in since 2022.

Common questions

Which electric BMW has the longest range?

The iX xDrive60 on 20-inch wheels, at 364 miles. The same version on 23-inch wheels is
rated at 318.

How many electric cars does BMW sell in the US?

Five model lines have been certified: the i3 (2014–2021), i4, i5, i7 and iX. The
iX1, iX2 and iX3 are not sold in the United States.

Do bigger wheels reduce electric range?

Yes, and EPA certifies each size separately. On the 2026 iX xDrive60 the difference
between 20-inch and 23-inch wheels is 46 miles. On the i4 M60 one inch is worth 46 miles.

What is the heaviest BMW?

The i7, at 6,243–6,343 lb depending on version — heavier than the XM and
heavier than any X7.

Is the i5 the same car as the 5 Series?

Same body and the same 199.2-inch length. Not the same weight: the i5 runs
5,027–5,247 lb against 4,158–4,916 lb for the 5 Series.

What replaced the BMW i3?

Nothing directly. The i3 was last certified for the 2021 model year, and BMW’s electric
range since has been built on shared bodies rather than on a purpose-designed small car.

Sources

• EPA fueleconomy.gov: range, MPGe, power and the separate certification of each wheel size for every version sold in the US.
• Curb weights and dimensions from Transport Canada’s Canadian Vehicle Specifications, via NHTSA vPIC, as used throughout our specification pages.