BMW launches new flagship electric SUV iX with 300 miles of range

BMW has unveiled its next electric vehicle, the iX SUV, with a range of 300 miles and a gorgeous minimalist interior. The iX is BMW’s technological flagship, which means that it incorporates several technologies that will be showcased in the German automaker’s future vehicles, primarily the electric powertrain and driver interface.

The BMW iX will be the first vehicle to incorporate the automaker’s evolutionary fifth-generation EV technology, which means it can be tuned to accommodate vehicles of different sizes and utilities. The BMW iX will go into production at the Dingolfing plant in southern Bavaria, Germany in the second half of 2021 and is expected to hit U.S. shores in early 2022.

BMW hasn’t revealed the size of the iX’s battery, but says it will be able to add 75 miles every 10 minutes of charge. The battery can be charged from 10 to 80% of its capacity in less than 40 minutes and from zero to 100% in 11 hours on an 11kW Level 2 charging station.

BMW hasn’t released a suggested price, but given the similarities to the X5 SUV, which retails for a recommended retail price of $ 59,400, and the additional costs of manufacturing the battery, it seems very likely that the iX could cost $ 70,000 or more.

But perhaps most telling is the absence of any mention of autonomous driving capabilities. When it unveiled its precursor, the iNEXT concept, in 2019, BMW hinted that the vehicle would be equipped with Level 3 autonomous driving. This means that the car would perform 100% of the driving tasks under certain conditions, but that drivers should stay on standby to take control when needed.

This feature seems to be missing from the iX SUV. “It is still too early to answer questions about pricing or specifications,” a spokesperson said Wednesday. BMW makes no mention of autonomous driving capabilities in videos or in press materials announcing the vehicle’s launch. And that was probably a wise move, too, given the legal and regulatory quagmire surrounding Level 3 driving. (More on this in a minute.)

The good thing about the specs that BMW is releasing, as long as they hold up, is that it all comes from what BMW says is the fifth generation of its electric drivetrain (the battery, electric motor and other technologies that put the power of the road). BMW fans were disappointed that the automaker never took over from the i3 or i8 in the years after these cars were released. But the company reiterates the underlying electrical technology. Now, this fifth-generation technology will power not only the iX, but also the i4 sedan (which shares many of the design features of the iX) and the China-made iX3 (which is now officially not intended for the States. -United).

As an electric crossover SUV, the iX resembles the X5 but with a lower roofline and a more aerodynamic profile. BMW says it will have the roof height of an X6 and the wheel size of an X7. The design team wanted the exterior to look “clean and sturdy, almost monolithic, like a well-rounded stone with some sheared facets,” said Adrian van Hooydonk, BMW design director.

The iX was controversial when it was presented in concept form as the iNEXT in 2019, with its square shape, van shape and oddly shaped grille. The face of the vehicle features a unique take on BMW’s traditional grille, sharing some of the aggressive features of the company’s i4 concept sedan.

Grid view

The interior of the iX appears to borrow from Elon Musk’s playbook of minimalism, but with a nod to BMW’s roots as a luxury automaker. Van Hooydonk calls it a “loft on wheels”.

There is only one screen inside, which demonstrates BMW’s remarkable restraint. (Most EVs are gill-filled with multiple displays.) The one-piece curved display serves as a place to control all of the vehicle’s functions. This involves bringing together the 12.3-inch dashboard and the 14.9-inch center infotainment screen to form a single driver-facing unit. The display will feature BMW’s next-generation operating system which can be controlled by touch or voice activation.

The brains of this car will also be a significant improvement over previous models, BMW says. The iX’s on-board computer will be able to “process 20 times the data volume of previous models,” the company says. As a result, “approximately double the amount of data from vehicle sensors can be processed compared to what was previously possible, allowing for future more advanced assistance systems.”

BMW had expected the vehicle to be capable of Level 3 highway driving, but declined to explain why this feature was left on the cutting room floor. Level 3, as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers, refers to highly automated driving where the driver should always be able to take charge of the vehicle on demand. Level 4 automation means that the car is able to handle most driving situations on its own, while level 5 is largely theoretical and covers full automation in all conditions.

BMW has left the door ajar for future updates with higher levels of autonomous driving – although it was probably a wise move to forget it for now. Other automakers have been disappointed with the promise of Level 3 driving. Take Audi for example. The VW-owned automaker said its A8 sedan would come with a feature called Traffic Jam Pilot which, when active, would relieve human drivers of the need to pay attention when in stationary traffic. But the functionality was subject to approval by local authorities, and Traffic Jam Pilot remains inactive in most markets around the world. Audi has no plans to enable the feature, and Level 3 automation remains a quagmire of legal, regulatory and business challenges.

BMW has a series of new electric vehicles coming in the next few years. The company is developing a fully electric version of its 5 and 7 series sedans as well as its entry-level X1 SUV. Earlier this year, the company unveiled the production iX3, the all-electric version of its best-selling X3 SUV. But the iX3 will not be available in the United States, only in Europe and China. When released next year, the iX3 will carry a 74 kWh battery, which is expected to propel the vehicle up to 273 miles.

This means that almost all of the German luxury automaker’s most popular cars will soon have fully electric variants. A fully electric version of the 3 Series, BMW’s most popular car in the United States, has already been spotted in camouflage tests, and the upcoming BMW i4 is expected to fit into the 4 Series lineup.

Half a decade ago, BMW was considered to be ahead of the curve when it comes to electrification. But the company’s efforts stalled. This has left many BMW fans looking for a solid follow-up to the eccentric i3 EV or the pricey, but head-spinning i8 hybrid, at best, impatient. The iX is still a long way from going into production, but based on the past year of exciting announcements from Munich, the automaker looks well on its way to making up for lost time.