2025 BMW iX3? Mysterious prototype spied

Is this the next electric BMW X3?

An electric BMW SUV has been snapped on a car carrier in Europe by serial spy photographer Wilco Blok. It’s hard to make out exactly what the car is – but it appears to have an SUV silhouette.

That would suggest it’s the new BMW iX3 electric car, which we’ve spied multiple times recently.

Whether it’s a concept or the production car isn’t clear; if it’s a concept we’d expect it’ll follow in the footsteps of the Vision Neue Klasse revealed in Munich last year.

Unlike the combustion X3, which we’ve recently spied wearing a subtly changed exterior and interior, we’re expecting the iX3 to wear a radical new look.

It will be one of several models on the new dedicated electric vehicle (EV) architecture, with BMW planning to roll out six Neue Klasse vehicles between 2025 and 2027, including both sedans and SUVs.

The Neue Klasse SUV, which could wear the iX330, iX340 and iX350 nameplates, is a lot more rounded in appearance than the rather upright iX3 – if arguably not to the same extreme as electric SUVs from rival Mercedes-Benz.

BMW’s design boss, Domagoj Dukec, has said he doesn’t want the brand’s designs to follow the likes of Chinese brands with fluid lines, and instead wants to offer its own distinctive look.

Like the Vision Neue Klasse sedan concept revealed earlier this year, which previews a 3 Series-sized production sedan, the SUV appears to have a crisp, forward-slanting ‘shark nose’ and a wide – instead of tall – iteration of BMW’s iconic double-kidney grille.

Another signature design cue that remains is BMW’s Hofmeister kink at the C-pillar, while the smooth, flowing side detailing and bulging tailgate are more like that of the BMW iX than today’s iX3.

When it launches in 2025, the new BMW SUV will rival the likes of the Audi Q6 e-tron and next-generation Mercedes-Benz EQC.

Unlike its fellow Germans, BMW hasn’t announced a cut-off date for production of internal combustion-powered vehicles and has instead committed to a multi-pathway strategy consisting of combustion, electric and hydrogen power.

MORE: BMW: Going electric-only is ‘crazy’ without a sustainable economy MORE: BMW won’t ditch petrol and diesel as electric revolution takes hold