DRIVING
Performance! This is why we like driving all electric vehicles. They have instant reaction to the accelerator pedal. BMW has always produced vehicles with a sporty feel in everything they do and that performance is just wonderful in any model they make.
This is going to sound childish but I like nothing more than to sit at a red traffic light beside a big car that’s got a lumpy sounding V8. I look at him, and he looks at me in my black SUV and blips his throttle – ready to make me look silly when the green lights come on.
The lights change and that instant electric torque pushes me back in the seat, in about three seconds we are up to 80 km/h and I back off. The other driver comes alongside, checks out the tame looking Bimmer and shakes his head.
Then again, I’ve driven many V8s in my 50-year career as a motoring journalist and there’s something about V8s that I really enjoy. If I had plenty of money to spare, I would buy a V8 for track days and just cruzin’ around town and keep the somewhat boring EV for everyday use.
Handling of the BMW iX3 is pretty good, but there’s a feeling of heaviness when you’re taking corners at speed due to the fact that you’re carting about half a tonne of batteries about.
There’s good feel through the steering wheel and the seats support well so you don’t shift about when driving hard and can concentrate on the road.
BMW says the iX3 can cover 460 kilometres on a full battery charge. During our testing on motorways, in the suburbs and on country roads we covered 284km and computer advised its batteries had a further 180km before it was close to being fully discharged.
SUMMING UP
A couple of times a year my wife and I go on long holiday trips from our home on the Gold Coast. Once we are a long way of out of town there’s not many places to charge an electric vehicle. And when we do find a charger, we have to wait for several hours to get decent range out of the car.
When we can buy an EV for about the same price as a petrol or diesel SUV and charge it up less than an hour to give us a range of at least 500km, we will seriously think about one.
RATINGS:
Looks: 9/10
Performance: 9/10
Range: 8/10
Safety: 8/10
Practicality: 6/10
Comfort: 8/10
Tech: 9/10
Value: 7/10
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
BMW iX3 RWD electric vehicle: $114,900
Note: This price does not include government or dealer delivery charges. Contact your local BMW dealer for drive-away prices.
SPECIFICATIONS (BMW iX3 RWD electric vehicle)
POWERTRAIN:
Maximum Power: 210 kW
Maximum Torque: 400 Nm
Range: 460 km
Combined Fuel Cycle (ADR 81/02): zero
CO2 Emissions: zero
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 4734 mm
Wheelbase: 2864 mm
Width: 1891 mm
Height: 1668 mm
Turning Circle: 12.1 metres
Kerb Mass: 2180 kg
BRAKES:
Front: Ventilated disc
Rear: Ventilated disc
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Three years / unlimited kilometres
Battery: Eight years / 160,000 kilometres
