BMW iX review - Range, charging and running costs
If you can afford to buy and insure it, the iX will reward you with fabulously low running costs
The BMW iX should prove to be fairly cheap to run day-to-day. The manufacturer quotes an economy figure of 3.0 miles/kWh for the xDrive40 model which, during our own test, we managed to match. This gives an overall range of around 230 miles between charges, although we’d expect this to improve slightly in warmer weather. Another minor consideration for buyers might be wheel size; the iX comes with 21-inch items as standard, but ticking the options list for the 22-inch wheels means range falls by around 2 miles.
Perhaps more significant, is that the xDrive40’s excellent efficiency means you should save a decent amount on charging costs. Our calculations (based on a cheaper home charging rate) indicate that you’ll spend just over £1,100 for every 20,000 miles driven, while fueling a 3.0-litre diesel X5 would cost around three times as much to cover the same distance.
BMW claims that the xDrive50 model is capable of travelling up to 380 miles on a single charge, while it also boasts 200kW rapid charging versus the xDrive40’s 150kW setup. This faster charging ability means it takes 34 minutes to top up the xDrive50’s 105.2kWh battery from 10-80 per cent, while the same function takes 31 minutes for the xDrive 40 version.
Insurance groups
The iX is not going to be cheap to insure, as even the entry xDrive40 model sits in group 47 on the 1 to 50 scale. The xDrive50 and M60 are in group 50, although anyone spending in excess of £100k on their car is unlikely to be too concerned about pricey premiums.
In comparison, the Audi e-tron and Mercedes EQC are broadly similar, with models in groups 44 to 50.
Depreciation
Luxury all-electric cars generally maintain solid residual values, although of course you’ll be paying out a sizable sum to buy one in the first place. The iX xDrive40 is the cheapest model in the range and also the slowest depreciator, holding onto around 57 per cent of its original list price over a typical three-year/36,000-mile ownership period. While this sounds a decent figure, it actually means the iX is expected to lose almost £30,000 of its original value after 36 months.
The more expensive xDrive50, in the popular M Sport trim, is predicted to hold onto an average of 54 per cent of its value over the same three year period, which equates to a loss of over £40,000 compared to its original list price. Of course, most cars will almost certainly be on some form of lease agreement and not bought outright, but it’s worth bearing these depreciation costs in mind. Again, the Mercedes EQC tracks the iX closely, with the Audi e-tron just trailing a few points behind.
