It’s because it’s BMW’s first fully-electric flagship model, and it looks strikingly similar to the company’s extremely popular X5. It’s also one of two new all-electric utility vehicles from BMW, and it’s loaded with technology, power, and range.
BMW entered the SUV market (or SAV, which stands for “sports activity vehicle”) in the late 1990s with the introduction of the extremely popular X5. According to a spokesperson, the company has sold over 950,000 X5s in the United States alone.
According to the company, it will be the best-selling vehicle in the first quarter of 2022. With the introduction of the 2022 BMW iX XDrive50, an X5-sized SUV with an all-electric powertrain and more than 300 miles of range, BMW has parlayed those sales numbers into what could be another future success.
The iX is a completely new design that was built from the ground up. It’s BMW’s flagship for the company’s new all-electric architecture and design, and it’s loaded with cutting-edge technology that sets it apart in an increasingly crowded sea of luxury electrics.
While BMW was an early adopter of electrification, releasing the short-range BMW i3 in 2013, the company discontinued it last year due to poor sales due to Americans’ preference for larger, higher-riding SUVs.
It’s been nearly a decade since BMW unveiled a new all-electric vehicle, but the company has returned with some very impressive offerings, including the BMW i4 sedan and the BMW iX in various configurations (the iX 40, iX 50, and coming soon, the very quick iX M60).
BMW also unveiled the i7 sedan last week, putting the company on track to achieve its goal of having a 50 percent global share of fully-electric vehicle sales by 2030.
The iX more than quadruples the range of the i3, which was designed as a city car with an initial range of only 80 miles.
All thanks to the 111.5kWh (gross) battery pack nestled into the vehicle’s carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), aluminum, and high strength steel space frame. That battery has a usable capacity of 105.2kWh, which means that on a one-way trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco (depending on traffic, temperature, and driving style), you will only need to stop once to recharge.
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