Photo: BMW
Back in November, BMW revealed “the next chapter in the future of mobility,” the electric iX. Known until then as the iNext, the Sports Activity Vehicle (that’s how BMW likes to call some of its SUVs) will hit the roads to reach customer hands at the end of next year.
Shown without any hints of camo in November in a sort of pre-production form, the iX disappointed a lot of people. It’s perhaps the most un-BMW-like BMW in years: it resembles an overgrown i3 from the sides, it is quirky at the rear, and, for no reason whatsoever, has a massively oversized kidney grille at the front.
The production version of the SUV (that’s how we like to call all of BMW's SAVs) is currently out and about in Lapland and Norway, undergoing the last stages of its winter testing. We’re promised the vehicle is completing “an intense tuning program for drive and suspension systems – electric motors, four-wheel drive, charging technology, high-voltage batteries, and heat management complete stress test in extremely cold conditions.”
And it’s also the perfect opportunity for the Bavarians to show the car once more, this time still heavily camouflaged. Now, when seeing such a hidden body, one would expect major visual changes to come on the production version, but that’s likely not the case here.
Even if for some of us the looks of the iX’s are disappointing, not the same can be said about the technology fitted inside and under the body. To be launched as the first vehicle built on “a new, modular, scalable future toolkit,” the iX features an electric drivetrain based on years of experience the carmaker gained with the i3.
At the core of the iX is a high-voltage battery with a gross energy content of more than 100 kWh, which should provide a range of up to 600 km (372 miles WLTP/300 miles EPA). Additionally, two electric motors are on deck to spin the wheels with the power of 500 hp.
The BMW iX will be manufactured at the carmaker's Dingolfing plant in the second part of 2021.
The production version of the SUV (that’s how we like to call all of BMW's SAVs) is currently out and about in Lapland and Norway, undergoing the last stages of its winter testing. We’re promised the vehicle is completing “an intense tuning program for drive and suspension systems – electric motors, four-wheel drive, charging technology, high-voltage batteries, and heat management complete stress test in extremely cold conditions.”
And it’s also the perfect opportunity for the Bavarians to show the car once more, this time still heavily camouflaged. Now, when seeing such a hidden body, one would expect major visual changes to come on the production version, but that’s likely not the case here.
Even if for some of us the looks of the iX’s are disappointing, not the same can be said about the technology fitted inside and under the body. To be launched as the first vehicle built on “a new, modular, scalable future toolkit,” the iX features an electric drivetrain based on years of experience the carmaker gained with the i3.
At the core of the iX is a high-voltage battery with a gross energy content of more than 100 kWh, which should provide a range of up to 600 km (372 miles WLTP/300 miles EPA). Additionally, two electric motors are on deck to spin the wheels with the power of 500 hp.
The BMW iX will be manufactured at the carmaker's Dingolfing plant in the second part of 2021.
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