Gas vs Electric: Which BMW gets the most miles per tank?
Range anxiety will remain an issue for electric vehicle buyers for some time. Many customers are not yet accustomed to electric vehicles, and the idea of charging a car is still unfamiliar to many people.
Therefore, the range of EVs will always be compared to that of gasoline vehicles, as that is what most drivers are used to. However, EVs are getting increasingly close to the range of internal combustion engine cars, so it’s worth showing how these two different technologies actually perform over the same distances. In this new video from Chasing Cars, you can see exactly that: a BMW iX3 is compared to a BMW X3 with an internal combustion engine in a range test.
Two BMW X3s, two powertrains, same route
The test was quite simple, as the two drivers drove a BMW iX3 50 xDrive and a BMW X3 M50 xDrive from Sydney, Australia, to Byron Bay. They used normal routes, kept both cars in Eco mode, and set the climate controls to the most efficient settings. Both vehicles stayed within speed limits, and the drivers stopped if necessary for any reason. It thus provided an indication of what a road trip in real life would be like.
BMW iX3 50 xDrive (2026)
Photo by: InsideEVs.de
From start to finish, the journey was 740 km long. When they set off, the electric iX3 showed an estimated range of 692 km, which wasn’t enough to complete the trip. But even after about 30 km of driving, the gasoline-powered X3 M50 displayed an estimated range of 784 km, significantly more than the iX3. Strangely enough, based on the iX3’s initial efficiency, calculations suggested it would finish the journey with some extra kWh remaining.
How did it turn out?
It’s interesting to see the gasoline-powered version have such much greater range, not because it’s gasoline-powered but because it’s the X3 model with a larger engine. The M50 is equipped with a 3.0-liter turbocharged I6 engine, and although it’s a mild hybrid, it delivers 393 horsepower and 580 Nm of torque. It’s the thirstiest engine among all X3 models, at least until the X3 M was introduced. But that doesn’t make it the most powerful SUV BMW produces in this segment. The iX3 M50 is more powerful, with 463 horsepower and 645 Nm of torque.
In the end, the iX3 managed to travel 747 km (464 miles) on a single charge, which is significantly more than the EPA’s estimated range of 434 miles. It reached just 23 km from Byron Bay. The X3 M50? Not only did it reach its destination, but it still had 332 km of range left in its tank. So, clearly, it wins the test. Nevertheless, the iX3 was still extremely impressive, boasting a range that few other electric vehicles on the planet can match. Thus, even though BMW’s six-cylinder mild hybrid system is ultra-efficient and hard to beat, it doesn’t diminish the iX3’s performance.
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