Hype(r) beast
BMW is adamant its new e-SUV really matters. But does it?
The iX may have a face like a digitised owl and a body like a fractal hippo, but you should prepare yourself to see these things hassling your mirrors very soon. For they also have the unexpectedly deft handling of a slightly over-stimulated ballet dancer, a truth made all the more incongruous by interior decor like an oligarch’s boudoir. Full of faceted crystal, matt wood, curious angles and big quilted chairs, it’s as if BMW has weaponised a luxury hotel room.
Which, in a sense, it has. This is BMW’s flagship for its latest electric vehicle technology, comprising not just its fifth generation of batteries and e-motors but a bespoke EV platform for the first time since the i3. The target here is luxury buyers, hence the SUV form-factor and the emphasis on space, comfort and way-out design: acres of display screen a given; the hexagonal steering wheel a sad but surprisingly untroublesome inevitability. It is the concept cars of my youth made reality.
Carbonfibre and aluminium construction is key to the car’s stiff body structure, further buttressed by the 650kg battery bolted to the underside. Stung 111.5kWh of capacity into this xDrive50 variant is enough for a claimed range of 380 miles, depending on how often you make use of the full 516bhp and 564lb ft. This is split between a primary rear motor and less powerful front motor, making the iX the first BMW with electric all-wheel drive.
The motors integrate all the control hardware for better packaging and performance, and use copper-wound iron electromagnets instead of the usual rare-earth permanent magnets. Not just a green touch, BMW reckons this innovation creates a tuneable magnetic field that enables the motors to hold onto their maximum output for longer. Maximum warp is a modest 124mph, but the iX gets there with ferocious alacrity.
And it does so incredibly quietly. There’s some distraction from the Hans Zimmer sound effects, but mute these and there’s still only a modest rustling at terminal velocity. Foam-filled tyres and aerodynamically optimised alloy
wheels are among the tricks used to achieve this. Enhancing the impression of ruthless serenity is all-round air suspension so good that the Sport setting feels more comfortable than most limos.
That the iX wallows a tiny bit when cornering to extremes just gives you something to do, as steering precision and agility are superb. More cutting-edge cleverness manages the front/rear power split with genuinely seamless instantaneity, vanishing low-traction situations into the distance some way behind you. Your passengers probably won’t even notice the disturbance.
‘Adaptive’ regeneration puts another nail in the con of the combustion engine, modifying the amount of speed reduction you get via the motors using nav data and sensor analysis of the surroundings. Activate full B-mode and it gives you near-flawless one-pedal driving. Still want to use the brake pedal? You’ll find it totally unfoxed by the need to balance regen and friction.
The new iDrive (dauntingly comprehensive at first but swiftly intuitive), with augmentedreality route guidance and stacks of active safety kit, completes a very convincing package.
That the iX wallows a bit when cornering to extremes just gives you something to do, as steering precision and agility are superb