The 563-mile BMW i3 will start from £53,005

There was a time when we could say BMW is a company that builds grilles and does a healthy side business flogging them on the front of some cars. But things be different now. The neue Neue Klasse has introduced something new, and today we learn just how much that newness will cost.

For its delectable new i3 – an electric 3 Series saloon, and thus one of the company’s most important neue Neue Kars – will start from just over fifty-three thousand of your most hard-earned pounds. Well, £53,005, to be precise.

That’s for the standard i3 50 xDrive, which gets a not-at-all-standard estimated driving range of 563 miles on a single charge. That makes it a) detrimental to your bladder’s long-term health, but more importantly b) really, really rangey. The second longest-range electric car available in the UK, no less.

The 50 comes with a 108.7kWh whopper, an electric motor on each axle, and totals of 463bhp and 476lb ft, plus a 0-62mph time of 4.7s. But it promises to be so much more than numbers, of course. There’s a ‘Heart of Joy’ central Big Brain controlling every aspect of the i3’s performance and dynamism and assisted driving.

Like we said, that figure of 563 miles (WLTP) puts it just behind the Merc EQS on outright range, but it’ll hose in 263 miles in just 10 minutes if you manage to find a 400kW charger. Thanks, 800V tech.

Want to part with more of your hard-earned pounds? For £57,905, you can opt for one of the ‘First Edition’ cars, which also get electrically adjustable seats, three-zone climate control, sun protection glazing, and a heated steering wheel. There’s a standard-fit 3D HUD, Harman Kardon sound system, an auto-opening boot, and an increase to let it accept 22kW on AC rather than 11kW.

Both the regular i3 50 xDrive and the First Edition do of course, get the Neue Klasse design language, which looks – to TopGear.com’s eyes at least – good.

“The BMW 3 Series has been an icon of our brand for seven generations and therefore more than five decades,” said Neue Klasse boss Mike Reichelt. “It encapsulates pure driving pleasure, innovation and timeless design. With the Neue Klasse and its technology clusters, we are literally skipping a vehicle generation.

“This is the DNA of our sporting saloon in a completely new vehicle concept as we write the next chapter in the BMW 3 Series success story.”