The BMW iX. Image: Riz Akhtar
BMW recently launched its EV range in Australia and I got a chance to see them in person earlier this week in Melbourne. I was quite looking forward to seeing what the makers of the “Ultimate Driving Machine” have been able to deliver on the back of innovative EVs like the BMW i3 & BMW i8.
After seeing these next-generation EVs in person from Bavarian Motor Works (BMW), I left with mixed feelings about what there is to come for EVs in Australia.
Growing up as a car enthusiast, I would often watch Top Gear and was always in awe of the performance of BMW’s sedans. My dream car was a BMW M5 because it was considered to be the ultimate “sleeper”.
This was basically a large sedan with hidden supercar performance. This performance was also in the slightly smaller BMW 3 series sedan too so as a kid, I would aspire to one day be able to drive one.
Often, I’d end up at my local BMW dealership just to be able to spot the latest BMW model in the showroom and look through the big showroom windows.
BMW future with electrification
As a childhood fan of BMW and EVs, when I saw that the local dealership was to the launch of the new i4, iX and iX3, I had to go to see what BMW’s next generation of EVs were like in-person.
Image: Riz Akhtar
Arriving at the dealership, it was good to see EV chargers outside. They looked like unbranded Schneider Electric wall boxes but in blue with BMW logos on them. I had to use them to see if they worked for non-BMW EVs and they did! Three-phase power delivered 11kW of AC charging goodness for the Tesla.
Inside the dealership, there was a mix of their current ICE models as well as the new EV range which we will start to see more of on our roads across Australia. The local dealer launch had the new BMW iX, BMW iX3 and the BMW i4.
Being a fan of the sedans, I naturally sat in the BMW i4 M50 with a 80.7kWh battery pack. This performance orientated sedan would compare nicely with the Tesla Model 3 Performance, as The Driven editor Giles Parkinson has noted. On paper, the BMW i4 is 370kg heavier.
BMW i4
This means that it is a bit slower to a 0-100 km/hr sprint than the Tesla. 0-100 sprint times are by no means a metric most owners would be aiming for but as the makers of the ultimate driving machines that often are taken for track days, the Tesla would outperform the BMW. Being an enthusiast, 0-100 times are sort of engrained so it’s a stat that always stands out.
For $135,000 on the road here in Victoria for a base BMW i4 M50, it is nearly $40,000 more expensive than the Tesla Model 3 Performance too.
Ground-up EVs and BMW’s electrification move
After sitting in the BMW i4, the biggest difference I found was the transmission tunnel from the ICE equivalent of the 4 series. This made the driver’s seat cramped with lower legroom than you’d find in a Tesla or another ground-up EV. On short trips, this wouldn’t be an issue but for longer drives, more space would make the journey much more comfortable.
After the BMW i4, I got to see the BMW iX which felt a lot more like a true EV with more space. This is BMW’s ground-up EV and it showed in the way it felt on the inside.
The BMW iX. Image: Riz Akhtar
There is a push for all brands to head towards EVs and BMW was one of the early adopters of this shift towards EV. When I think about BMW in the 2010s, BMW i3 and BMW i8s come to mind as a few examples of the EV innovation they once had.
Over the years though, it feels like they have lost that EV edge they once had. The BMW i4 felt like a car that BMW had plonked the engine and transmission out and replaced it with batteries and motors. This is what makes it in-efficient and hence why we need more ground up EVs like the BMW iX.
I would have loved to see a sedan ground-up EV from BMW but I guess I will be waiting for a few years before that happens. As a fan of the ultimate driving machine as a kid, I’d want BMW and other legacy brands to succeed in the EV race.
The more EVs that come to Australia which are ground-up, the more chance we’d get to experience all the benefits of EVs. These include efficiency, more space, less maintenance issues and a lot more. Ground-up EVs will ultimately drive EV uptake in Australia as they offer the whole EV experience.
Keyword: BMW shows why Australia needs more ground-up EVs