Originally revealed as the Vision iNext at the 2018 Paris Motor Show and later for a 2021 model year production, the BMW iX is arguably the car that kicked off BMW’s latest wave of electrification.
The all-wheel drive electric SUV is available in a handful of grades that peak at the M60, with its 455kW and 1100Nm allowing it to hit 100km/h in 3.8 seconds.
It’s the largest of BMW’s electric-only SUVs, and the only one not to feature a number in its name that would link it to an existing model line (such as X3 or X5).
The line-up currently starts at $136,900 for the i Series IX Xdrive40 Sport and ranges through to $233,400 for the range-topping i Series IX M60.
The BMW iX has a spacious interior with a focus on tech and premium materials. It retains some of BMW’s key features like a central control panel with physical buttons and dial to navigate the multimedia menus, but a long, curved display holds the multimedia touchscreen and driver display.
Materials like leather, finished metals and crystal adorn the interior and a large sunroof helps light the cabin up.
Passengers in all seats are treated to plenty of legroom, even the rear middle passenger.
The BMW comes with a choice of eight colours, the no cost options being 'M Carbon Black', 'Black Sapphire', 'Mineral White', 'Arctic Race Blue', 'Dune Grey' and 'Aventurine Red'.
There are two Individual Metallic colours: 'Storm Bay' (a light shade of bluish grey) costs $2400, while 'Frozen Deep Grey' is a $5500 option. 'Tanzanite Blue' will be added to the range soon with pricing to be confirmed.
Thanks to its 94.8kwh battery the BMW iX xDrive45 has a driving range of up to 522km despite its heavy kerb weight. Its claimed energy use is 20.0kWh/100km.
The BMW iX has a standard five-seat layout with electrically adjustable front seats with heating and a spacious rear bench seat for three.
An option pack is available to introduce ventilation to the front seats and heating to the rear.
The BMW iX has 500 litres of boot space, which can be expanded to 1750L with the rear seats folded down. There is also space under the boot floor for cables and the tyre repair kit.
The BMW iX now features an M Sport package as standard, so there’s M trim inside like the steering wheel, the M seats and silver design highlights.
Adaptive LED headlights and the BMW 'Iconic Glow' grille surround has also been added.
There’s also now a panoramic glass roof, plus a heated steering wheel and a tyre pressure monitor.
Aside from that, the wireless phone charging, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, 18-speaker surround sound by Harman Kardon, four-zone climate control and heated front seats all carry over from before.
BMW says the iX xDrive45 M Sport is able to hit 100km/h from a standstill in 5.1 seconds, with its claimed top speed a tidy 200km/h.
The BMW iX xDrive45 has a dual-motor electric set-up with all-wheel drive. Power and torque total 300kW and 700Nm, up from the 240kW and 630Nm on offer in the outgoing xDrive40.
BMW customers have two ways of charging their iX at home, the fastest being by installing a three-phase 22kW AC wall charger. These cost between $1500 to $3000, with additional energy costs averaging between 21-36 cents per kW, depending on your provider and which state you live in. If you’re hooked up to solar power, the additional cost can be zero. According to BMW, this method will charge the iX xDrive40 from 0-100 per cent in 8 hours and 15 minutes. The other method is a standard AC wall socket, which charges at a much slower rate of 2.3kW. BMW says this will take 39 hours for a full charge.
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