The wait has been long. And alas, it’s not over. As we edge towards the end of 2020, the best year for humanity on record, we are still going to have to wait another 12 months until the BMW iX finally arrives to the showrooms. However, the newest flagship from BMW Group promises a level of innovation and sexiness never before seen.
Built around the new modular toolkit, the EV flagship portrays a completely new design aesthetic. And one that, as this is just an opinion, we find extremely attractive. Albeit our quintessential aversion to all-terrain cars that will never, ever, get a whiff of anything other than tarmac. Which, incidentally, is what the iX is poised to be.
Numbers…
Still in the design and engineering stage, the marquee is slightly vague with the specs. Promising nearly 500Hp from the full electric drivetrain, the iX should be able to reach 100KPH in under 5s. Add to this an aerodynamic coefficient of 0.25 and the efficiency lies at 21kWh per 100Km. Battery size has not been published as yet, but with an expected range of 600km, battery should be in the neighborhood of 110/120kWh. More than the Tesla, less than the Rivian.
Charge up times will be low as the car can take up to 200kW, available in the fastest chargers currently deployed. That means a 0-100 in a little over 90 minutes. Math doesn’t add up because, well, you know, getting from 0 to 80% is fast, and then charging slows down… However, expect 120km range from just 10 minutes of fast charge. Not like petrol, but certainly within our daily or emergency needs. However, BMW says that 11 hours of home charge from a “Wallbox” will get the car all the way to the top. Er… What is a “Wallbox”? Apparently an 11kW socket. This is not what we have on our garages. At the 13A we have on the regular socket in our houses, the maximum power you can get is 2.8kW. This means that on your average 10 hours of night sleep, a normal socket should give you 30kWh. Which translates to 140Km of range. And about 7.5$ in electricity cost. Of course, a full charge rounds to 25-30$. Time to solar-panel your roof? Maybe…
In terms of space, the iX is the area of the X5, the height of the X6 and the wheels of the X7. It seats 5 comfortably and, we assume, has plenty of space for luggage.
Interior
BMW has gone the way of Volvo in its minimalist interior design. A large curved screen presides the dashboard and all the controls are in the center console and steering wheel. Curiously, this is now hexagonal. Having no center tunnel to make space for the transmission, and with all the batteries on the floor, the interior space is much more open than in traditional cars.
So, there we have it. The future of BMW electric mobility is but a year away. We don’t yet know prices, full specs, self-driving packages or performance but, as it stands, it’s quite a tasty teaser to end this 2020. Begone.