2022 BMW IX vs 2023

What's the difference?

BMW isn’t playing it safe when it comes to electrified vehicles. About a decade ago the company launched the concept car-like i8 hybrid sportscar and the ground-breaking i3 electric city hatch.

While it’s been mostly hybrids and plug-in hybrids since then, the German giant ramped things up in a big way this year. It has just launched three battery EVs in Australia – the i4 sedan, the X3-based iX3 medium SUV and the iX large SUV.

The latter is based on a dedicated all-electric architecture and represents the pinnacle of BMW’s electrification and technological ambitions – for now at least.

But it’s arriving years after some of its biggest rivals. Has BMW left its run too late? Or has it taken its time to craft a superior EV?

Electric cars might be synonymous with Tesla right now, but as the world begins to ween itself off petrol and diesel, you can bet other car brands will be vying for the spotlight.

BMW is no stranger to the electric market with its i3 hatchback having first launched back in 2014, but with buyers shifting away from passenger cars to SUVs, that quirky model never really managed to find a substantial audience.

Enter BMW’s second-generation of EVs, then, which includes the i4 sedan, iX3 mid-size SUV and flagship iX.

And it is the latter that we’re testing here to see if BMW has done enough to shift the limelight away from Tesla and its Model X.