26MY BMW ix3 battery pack

BMW iX3 Neue Klasse Battery

We have been looking at the BMW Gen6 Battery System since late 2022 with a slow release of data from BMW since then. A more substantial release and video of the technology was given earlier this year: BMW Gen6 EV Battery Technology.

In the latest posts around the 26MY iX3 we are getting a few more snippets of data, enough to maybe join some dots.

  • Total energy = 113.4 kWh
    • Usable energy = 108.7 kWh
    • Usable window ~ 96%
  • Nominal Pack
    • Voltage = 698.9 V
    • Capacity = 162.3 Ah
  • Configuration = 192s 5p
    • Total number of cells = 960
  • Charging
    • Peak fast charge = 400kW
    • 10 to 80% SOC = 21 minutes
    • V2G capable
  • Physical
    • Mass = 597.3 kg
  • Pack Metrics
    • Gravimetric Energy Density = 190 Wh/kg
    • Gravimetric Power Density = 642 W10s/kg

It is worth comparing this battery pack with:

BMW stated: Cylindrical cell achieves a 20% volumetric energy density improvement over Gen5 prismatic cell [2]

  • Gen5 cell = 585 Wh/litre
    • => Gen6 = 702 Wh/litre

However, we have on good authority that the 46120 cell:

  • Nominal
    • Voltage = 3.64 V
    • Capacity = 42 Ah
    • Energy ~153 Wh
  • Energy density ~767 Wh/litre

We either have the wrong value for the Gen5 density or they have over achieved.

The iX3 113.4 kWh battery pack uses the 4695 size cell, 95mm height. Looking at the pack configuration and nominal values the cell would be:

  • Chemistry = NMC / Gr+Si
  • Nominal Cell
    • Voltage = 3.64 V
    • Capacity = 32.5 Ah
    • Energy ~ 118 Wh
  • Assuming the cell dimensions are 46mm diameter and 95mm height [3]
    • Energy density ~747 Wh/litre

This post has been built based on the support of and sponsorship from: illumion, Custom Power, Quarto Technical Services, Eatron Technologies and About:Energy

We can extend this calculation further by taking the relationship between volumetric and gravimetric cell density from the Cell Database.

For cylindrical format cells using NMC chemistry this is:

Wh/litre = 2.72 x Wh/kg

Our original estimate of 190Wh/kg at pack level was rather close =>

This would suggest that the BMW 4695 cell has a gravimetric density of ~275 Wh/kg and hence the cell mass for iX3 pack would be ~412 kg. The mass of everything else in the pack based on the Gen5 data would be ~200kg for this size of pack. Hence the estimate for the iX3 battery pack is ~610kg. Somewhere around 50kg weight reduction.

Assuming BMW engineers have reduced the weight of everything else in the pack by 10% (a challenging but achievable target) it would mean that the 26MY iX3 Neue Klasse battery is ~60 to 70kg lighter than the Gen5 prismatic pack.

This would move the pack gravimetric energy density from a Gen5 value ~171Wh/kg to ~190Wh/kg for this cylindrical cell based design.

Note: this has a lot of assumptions and as such should be used as a directional estimate.

References

  1. 2026 BMW iX3 Leaked Specs Reveal Power And Battery Details, BMWBLOG
  2. The five steps to the battery cell in the CMCC pilot series, BMW Group
  3. BMW unveils i3 design: this is what the electric 3 Series looks like, Electrive

See also

Volkswagen MEB Battery Pack ID Family, VW ID 4 82kWh Battery

4 thoughts on “BMW iX3 Neue Klasse Battery”

  1. Es gibt 4 Varianten:
    113,4kWh
    699V
    162Ah
    192s5p
    4895er

    87,8kWh
    672V
    130Ah
    184s4p
    4895er

    137kWh
    717V
    192Ah
    196s6p
    4895er

    148kWh
    707V
    210Ah
    194s5p
    48120er

    Die ersten beiden Varianten teilen sich eine Gehäusegröße. Die 87,8kWh ist nicht voll bestückt.
    Variante 3 ist länger als die ersten beiden. Variante 4 hat ein eigenes Design für die größeren Zellen.

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