Having only been revealed at the tail end of last year, the G20 BMW 3 Series lineup is already sprawling, with a range of petrol and diesel variants, a plug-in hybrid and a more powerful M3 on the horizon. But Munich isn’t stopping there, because it’s apparently preparing another PHEV to supplement the existing 330e, according to the folks at BMWBlog.
Its report suggests that a cheaper, less powerful variant, the 320e, will be introduced sometime next year – a fact that has supposedly been confirmed by two of the publication’s sources. Whereas the 330e utilises the B48 2.0 litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, this new model is expected to be powered by the B38 1.5 litre three-pot that will be familiar to owners of the outgoing 318i.
In that car, this engine produces 136 PS and 220 Nm of torque, so expect quite a bit of augmentation from the electric motor to bring the power figure up to the 184 PS of the equivalent petrol-powered model, the 320i. It’s unclear whether the 320e will also employ the XtraBoost feature, which in the 330e boosts power from 252 PS to 292 PS in short bursts under acceleration.
As for all-electric range, the 330e can go up to 60 km with a 12 kWh battery and a 68 hp (constant) electric motor, so expect the same from the 320e with a slightly smaller battery and less powerful motor. The plug-in hybrid powertrain in this car will be fundamentally different from those in the X1 xDrive25e and 225xe Active Tourer, as those models are front-biased all-wheel drive models with an Aisin gearbox instead of a ZF one.
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