BMW's Next-Gen iX3 Tops Norway Summer Range Test with 781 km

In a summer all-electric vehicle range test jointly organized by the Norwegian Automobile Federation (NAF) and *Motor* magazine, the BMW iX3 50 xDrive traveled 781 kilometers, making it the longest-range vehicle in this year’s test. The iX3 is BMW’s first all-electric model built on its new-generation platform, and the company previously claimed that both its range and charging speed have improved by approximately 30% compared to previous generations. This real-world result slightly exceeded its official WLTP-rated range of 770 km but fell short of the record set by the Lucid Air in the 2023 summer test, which achieved 832 km. All vehicles in the test started fully charged from Oslo and drove continuously until their batteries were depleted and they could no longer maintain the legal speed limit. The Lucid Gravity came in second with a range of 720 km, followed by the Mercedes-Benz CLA 350 4Matic at 675 km. The remaining top-ten finishers, in order, were: Mercedes-Benz GLC 400 4Matic, XPeng X9, Polestar 3, Mercedes-Benz GLB 350 4Matic, Toyota C-HR+, Kia EV4, and Hyundai IONIQ 9. Throughout the test, vehicles were driven in standard driving mode. Drivers primarily relied on regenerative braking during the initial segment and later engaged adaptive cruise control as needed. Aside from the top performers, several other models also surpassed their official WLTP range figures: the XPeng X9 exceeded its rating by 11.4%, the Kia EV2 by 5.4%, the Hyundai Inster by 3.5%, and the Kia PV5 by 1.8%. The primary goal of this test was to evaluate whether automakers’ all-electric vehicles deliver real-world range performance consistent with their official claims—not merely to determine which vehicle can travel the farthest on a single charge.