The luxury electric vehicle segment in India has been growing over the past couple of years. After Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Jaguar, it’s BMW that has finally launched its first EV in India and there are more to come in the next six months. The BMW iX is the company’s first electric SUV globally and with it’s launch in India, we can see how the company wants to be part of the EV business in the country. As for the BMW iX, it’s available only in the base xDrive40 variant in India and rivals the likes of the Mercedes-Benz EQC, Audi e-tron and Jaguar I-Pace in our market. While the Mercedes-Benz EQC and Jaguar I-Pace too have come to our shores in a single variant, the Audi e-tron is offered in both e-tron 50 and e-tron 55 iteration. In this comparison, we have taken the base Audi e-tron 50 to pit it against the base iX xDrive40. Here’s how these models fare against each other.
| Specifications | BMW iX xDrive40 | Mercedes-Benz EQC | Audi e-tron 50 | Jaguar I-Pace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Pack | 76.6 kWh | 80 kWh | 71 kWh | 90 kWh |
| Power Output | 322 bhp | 402 bhp | 309 bhp | 394 bhp |
| Peak Torque | 630 Nm | 765 Nm | 540 Nm | 696 Nm |
| 0-100 kmph | NA | 5.1 seconds | 6.8 seconds | 4.8 seconds |
| Top-Speed | NA | 180 kmph | 190 kmph | 200 |
| Claimed Range | 425 km | 471 km | 379 km | 470 kmph |
| All-Wheel-Drive | Yes (xDrive) | Yes (4 matic) | Yes (Quattro) | Yes (IDD) |
| Fast Charging | 150 kW DC Fast Charger: 80 per cent in 31 mins / 50 kW DC Fast Charger: 80 per cent in 73 mins | DC Fast Charger: 80 per cent in 1 hour | 100 kW DC Fast Charger: 80 per cent in 1 hour / 50 kW DC Fast Charger: 80 per cent in 2 hours | 100 kW Fast Charger: 80 per cent in 45 mins |
| Slow Charging | 11 kW AC Slow Charger: 100 per cent in 7 hours | 11 kW AC Slow Charger: 100 per cent in 11 hours | 11 kW AC Slow Charger: 100 per cent in 8.5 hours | 7 kW Slow Charger: 100 per cent in 9 hours |
Battery Pack
The Jaguar I-Pace has the biggest battery pack.
The Jaguar I-Pace clearly has the biggest battery pack at 90 kWh followed by the Mercedes-Benz EQC at 80 kWh and the newly launched BMW iX gets a slightly smaller 76.6 kWh battery pack. That said, the Audi e-tron 50 comes equipped with the smallest battery pack of the lot at 71 kWh.
Power & Performance
The Mercedes-Benz EQC offers class-leading power figures.
Now all these three electric SUVs have one electric motor mounted on each axle and so technically they all are all-wheel-drive (AWD) EVs. That said, the AWD system is a road-focused system in all these SUVs designed to enhance the agility and handling prowess of these EVs. Well! In terms of sheer power output the Mercedes-Benz EQC has an edge here with 402 bhp and 765 Nm of peak torque on tap. Then, it’s the Jaguar I-Pace which isn’t much behind with 396 bhp and 696 Nm of peak torque. The BMW iX in the xDrive40 configuration belts out 322 bhp and 630 Nm of peak torque while the base Audi e-tron 50 remains the most modest EV of the lot at 309 bhp and 540 Nm of peak torque.
Having said that, these figures translates slightly differently when it comes to performance. The Jaguar I-Pace take the lead here managing the 0-100 kmph run in just 4.8 seconds while the Mercedes-Benz EQC is just 0.3 seconds slower to 100 kmph at 5.1 seconds. The Audi e-tron 50 again is slower by almost 2 seconds doing the same sprint in 6.8 seconds and we still don’t have performance figures for the BMW iX xDrive40.
Range
The Mercedes-Benz EQC delivers the best drive range.
When it comes to the WLTP test cycle claimed range, both eSUVs – the Mercedes-Benz EQC and the Jaguar I-Pace are neck-to-neck on this grid. In fact, as close as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were in yesterdays’ Abu Dhabi GP. While the Mercedes-Benz EQC claims to go up to 471 km on a full-charge, the Jaguar I-Pace is almost there 470 km when you completely top it up. The BMW iX will give you a range of 425 km on a full charge while the Audi e-tron 50 is still quite behind at 379 km
Charging Time
The BMW iX is the quickest of the lot when it comes to charging.
The BMW iX has an advantage here with a fast-charging time of 31 mins using a 150 kW fast charger for 80 per cent top-up. The other three EVs take about an hour for the same top-up using a 100 kW fast charger.
The BMW iX again can be fully charged quickly I just 7 hrs using an 11 kW AC charger while others the Audi e-tron takes 8.5 hours for the same charge followed by the Jaguar I-Pace at around 9 hours and the Mercedes-Benz EQC take a good 11 hours for complete top-up.
Highlights
- The BMW iX is the latest entrant in the luxury EV segment in India.
- It goes up against the Mercedes-Benz EQC, Audi e-tron and Jaguar I-Pace.
- It is being offered in India in a single xDrive40 base variant.
Keyword: BMW iX vs Mercedes-Benz EQC vs Audi e-tron vs Jaguar I-Pace: Specification Comparison