Lexus Es350E vs BMW IX1

What's the difference?

Luxury vehicles are better because of the quality, reliability and care that Lexus has brought since 1990, upending the status quo like no other brand before.

The ES, however, has been an outlier.

Inexplicably inferior to the far-cheaper Toyota Camry on which it’s long been based on, the bloated mid-sized “Executive Sedan” series created especially for America ignored “The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection” ethos that Lexus originals like the LS, IS, LFA and even the most-recent NX have striven for.

The eighth-generation ES redesign, however, is different, despite remaining Camry -ased, with an extended, beefed-up body and platform, multi-link rear suspension featuring adaptive dampers, an advanced new operating system that drags connectivity into this decade and an electric option.

Suddenly, the ES is poised to lure Polestar 2, Tesla Model 3 and Mercedes-Benz CLA buyers with a high-quality electric vehicle (EV) from Japan brimming with technology, refinements, space and features, at a price that cannot be ignored.

Has the ES finally understood the Lexus memo?

The world is full of shock brand announcements.

Remember the time Coke suddenly changed its cola recipe? Or when Apple decided to take on Nokia with iPhone? Nobody saw those coming.

We all know how the latter turned out and even the former eventually became a marketing masterstroke.

Now here's another super-surprise – a German electric luxury SUV that’s actually comparatively inexpensive. And not stingily equipped. Yep, we’re talking about the iX1.

Based on the really rather impressive third-generation X1, it decisively undercuts similarly-specified rivals from Mercedes-Benz (EQA, EQB) and Genesis (GV60).

But is the Bavarian EV SUV worth paying that little bit extra for against (only very slightly) cheaper alternatives like the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Tesla Model Y, Polestar 2 and Volvo XC40 Recharge?

Let’s see.