► BMW takes shock and awe approach to new EVSay one thing for the way the BMW iX looks – say it's distinctive. Whatever you think of that nose, or that rear overhang, you aren't going to mistake it for any other car. Which is good news, we reckon, because BMW has certainly put some effort into engineering its first bespoke-platform EV since the i3.
Elements do still come at you unexpectedly. With this form-factor and a kerbweight in excess of 2.5-tonnes, I wasn't anticipating it to be quite so immediately agile. And while all-round air-suspension and a very stiff structure were always going to be great for comfort and refinement, it rolls on minimum 21-inch wheels so surely it shouldn't deal with bumps quite so unflappably?
There are stark joins between materials, and a fusion of soft quilted surfaces with hard, faceted crystal control elements for the iDrive and the electric seats. The latter are mounted on the door, which is unusual for a BMW and slightly unwise for this material, as when the sun hits them they send weird, trippy colours scampering about the cabin.
The BMW voice assistant is supposedly smarter, too. But we found it slow to respond and quickly stopped bothering to try – using the iDrive wheel or even tapping the screen didn't really make many functions that more difficult anyway. That's somewhat melodramatic, given it's packed with a vast array of safety kit and integrated control systems that means the front and rear motors can juggle grip like a top-class speed climber. But there is very much an aura of the closet loon about this car – you know, the sort who barely says a word at work but goes totally bananas at parties.
It's all a little confusing, after the first few miles. One minute it's wafting silently, then the next it's skipping around fast corners like a Mazda MX-5. Well, almost like an MX-5 – there is some body roll after all. But with a circa-650kg battery pack bolted to the floor pan, the centre of gravity is very much in the right place and the opportunity to exploit every essence of that performance comes up apparently repeatedly.BMW refers to the motors and batteries as Gen5 .
Brilliant BMW zero emission for the future