TG's best luxury electric car: the BMW iX

What is it?

A bucket of petrol on the internet’s eternally smouldering skip fire is what the BMW iX really is. A big, chunky SUV with muffin-top overhangs and a ‘lightweight’ architecture that’s only lightweight in comparison to things fashioned from raw plutonium. It also sports the kind of front end that only a mother could resist making it always sit facing a wall. But there’s something about the iX that makes it achingly good at soothing away the outside world and armouring you against the drudgery of a commute. Peerless, in fact. Calm suspension that walks the increasingly fine line between comfort and control, an interior that hides its bells’n’whistles behind a facade of serenity. It’s a car you get out of refreshed after a long journey. And walk away quickly from.

Give me some details about the BMW iX.

The car we’re talking about here is the iX40 specifically, the lower-powered, less aggressive, ‘base’ of the range, albeit a ‘base’ that has 322bhp, 465lb ft of torque and a 0-62mph time a smidge over six seconds. There’s an iX50 with 523bhp, but it’s not as calming. Of interest is the fact that the iX40 seems to have taken a - wise - left turn when it comes to the idea that everything needs to be ‘sporty’. After all, if you want something with more recognisable BMW driving DNA, the i40 saloon scratches that itch. What the iX40 offers is a kind of automotive decompression; it actively encourages you to relax, breathe. There’s lots of space, and BMW’s ‘shy tech’ is exactly where we should be going if we want to remain calm - just because you can add 100-million modes of functionality doesn’t mean you should.

Why should I care about the BMW iX?

Because it’s a surprise. From the outside the iX40 looks brutish and big, the typical suburban armour donned by many for wildly mundane day-to-day operations. But once inside, it’s got much more to it. It rides and steers with a silky grace that belies its size, delivers on compromises without making them feel like they exist. It shows off a pure electric drivetrain to best effect, and doesn’t try too hard. Luxury isn’t about showing off - its about turning inward and delivering for those onboard. Sometimes ‘luxury’ isn’t about rare wood and gold taps, but something more restrained, and the iX delivers.

Why did you give the BMW iX an award?

The definition of luxury is always subjective to a degree, but the idea that the iX40 makes technology butler-ish - there when you need it - rather than endlessly in-your-face is an absolute winner. There are some materials mis-steps, true, but the general feel of the iX is that it’ll bring your heart-rate down significantly no matter how jittery you may have felt before you started your journey. It’s like a mobile therapy bus, and very possibly an antidote to road rage. It’s a mood-modifier, and that’s a huge compliment when it comes to navigating the modern world - something that feels like true luxury. BMW has obviously taken the iX in a defined direction and it feels like it made the right decisions here.

For the full story pick up the Electric Awards issue of Top Gear magazine