BMW iX: What it’s like to live with
We tested the brand new (and extremely expensive) BMW iX xDrive50 during the holiday season. What’s it like to live with an EV in a city and how does it compare with all the other EVs that have recently been launched in South Africa? Ciro De Siena details his experience with the R2-million battery-electric SUV.
I approached writing this review with some dread. I knew it was going to be lengthy. The iX is just such an interesting, feature-filled and goalpost-setting car, that I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to do it justice, or worse, that I would leave you, our readers, with unanswered questions.
Couple that with the general – but necessary – question marks about living with an electric vehicle in South Africa, and I knew I had my work cut out for me. Hopefully, this article, combined with the video we have produced (which we’ve internally been referring to as a documentary – it is the longest video review we’ve ever published) will cover everything you’d like to know about the BMW iX.
BMW iX launch offer, vehicle and battery warranty
The iX range is currently being offered with 1-year comprehensive insurance and a wall box free of charge.
The standard vehicle warranty is 5-year/100 000 km, which can be extended to 7 years or 200 000 km.
There is a separate 8-year/100 000 km warranty on the battery.
Verdict
I’ve driven a variety of electric cars back-to-back recently – the
Tesla Model X Performance, the Audi e-tron S Sportback and lastly, the BMW iX, and the experiences have been particularly illuminating.
Firstly, BMW has arrived very late to the party. The Tesla Model X went on sale in 2014 and we sampled the Audi e-tron (albeit in Dubai) as long ago as 2018. Even more curious is the fact that BMW launched the i3 and i8 in 2015, and then didn’t launch another EV until the iX, almost 7 years later.
However, I do get the feeling that BMW deliberately took its time with this one, and it shows. This is quite simply one of the best cars I have driven. Not just one of the best EVs – all cars, full stop. It just does everything brilliantly. I cannot fault it.
In the ways that matter most, it is a better car than the Tesla Model X. While the Tesla is an impressive tech-fest, in the “old-fashioned” ways in which we measure cars – ride comfort, refinement, road noise at speed, build quality, the iX is remarkably better. Overall, it is a better car than the Model X and critically, the BMW offers more range at a lower purchase price.
For me, the iX is a tipping point. Electric vehicles are now as good as ICE vehicles, if not better. And it seems South Africans are beginning to agree. BMW South Africa quickly sold its first shipment of iX units, and more are on the way.
It pains me that currently in South Africa, electric vehicles remain playthings of the wealthy. R2.2 million is simply a staggering amount of money for 99% of South Africans to spend on a motor vehicle. Where are the cheap Hondas, the cheap Renaults, the cheap MGs?
However, I am confident that EVs will go the way of the smartphone. They will become cheaper as manufacturers reach economies of scale and as battery technology improves.
If the iX is a rolling showcase of what the electric car is today, we are in for a very exciting future.
We tested the brand new (and extremely expensive) BMW iX xDrive50 during the holiday season. What's it like to live with an EV in a city?
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