BMW iX1 review: what the car critics say
BMW’s smallest electric crossover has ‘precise’ steering and a ‘smart interior’
BMW has launched its smallest electric crossover, the iX1, joining a market that includes the likes of the Tesla Model Y, Mercedes-Benz EQA, and Audi Q4 e-tron, said The Daily Telegraph. In some ways, it can compete with those cars; it is fast, and has a “smart interior”. The entry-level model has a generous spec, but it’s expensive for what it offers, and its 267-mile range is not great for a car of its size.
The iX1 has a 64.7kWh battery mounted under the floor, providing 309bhp and charging from 10% to 80% in just under half-an-hour, said Top Gear Magazine. It reaches an impressive 0-62mph in 5.7 seconds (in Boost mode) and can hit 112mph. It’s easy to drive, with steering that is “precise” if a little “light”. Its adaptive regenerative braking mode seems a little “unpredictable”, but you can turn it off.
Those looking for a car that doesn’t scream too much about the fact that it’s electric will appreciate the iX1’s fairly traditional styling, said Auto Express. The cabin has a “premium feel” with good materials and a general sense of sturdiness. BMW has got rid of its rotary controller in favour of more touchscreen controls, which are less easy to use, but the iX1 is spacious, with a 490-litre boot, and has a light, airy feel inside.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In pictures: BMW iX1
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Blue Origin launches Mars probes in NASA debutSpeed Read The New Glenn rocket is carrying small twin spacecraft toward Mars as part of NASA’s Escapade mission
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
-
Train Dreams pulses with ‘awards season gravitas’The Week Recommends Felicity Jones and Joel Edgerton star in this meditative period piece about a working man in a vanished America
-
Middleland: Rory Stewart’s essay collection is a ‘triumph’The Week Recommends The Rest is Politics co-host compiles his fortnightly columns written during his time as an MP
-
‘Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America’ and ‘Unabridged: The Thrill of (and Threat to) the Modern Dictionary’feature The culture divide in small-town Ohio and how the internet usurped dictionaries
-
6 homes with fall foliagefeature An autumnal orange Craftsman, a renovated Greek Revival church and an estate with an orchard
-
Bugonia: ‘deranged, extreme and explosively enjoyable’Talking Point Yorgos Lanthimos’ film stars Emma Stone as a CEO who is kidnapped and accused of being an alien
-
The Revolutionists: a ‘superb and monumental’ bookThe Week Recommends Jason Burke ‘epic’ account of the plane hijackings and kidnappings carried out by extremists in the 1970s
-
Film reviews: ‘Bugonia,’ ‘The Mastermind’ and ‘Nouvelle Vague’feature A kidnapped CEO might only appear to be human, an amateurish art heist goes sideways, and Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Breathless’ gets a lively homage
-
Book reviews: ‘Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity’ and ‘Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice’feature An examination of humanity in the face of “the Machine” and a posthumous memoir from one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, who recently died by suicide