BMW iX2 SUV (2023 - ) Electric review

It’s always interesting to compare costs when a manufacturer offers combustion-engined and electric versions of the same car, even if bottom-line prices are a less relevant comparison these days. But, to put a number on it, an electric iX2 costs about £9,000 more than its petrol powered X2 equivalent, and our test car’s price with options was well over sixty grand! The current Benefit In Kind incentives for company car drivers could pretty much cover that price difference, though, and if you’re smart about your charging and can do it at home on a cheap, off-peak domestic energy tariff you’ll also save a chunk in daily running costs. But there’s no escaping the fact an iX2 looks a pricey choice.

Things have been getting better for BMW in reliability terms of late, which is good because, like many of its premium equivalents, it’s spent too long at the wrong end of the rankings. The fact electric cars use fewer moving parts and this is now BMW’s fifth generation of its battery and motor technology should help reassure as well.

While BMW includes all the safety systems you’d expect of a modern car, including automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping alerts and the utterly infuriating zero-tolerance speed limit alert all new cars are required to have. At least there’s a ‘secret’ shortcut for disabling it – just hold down ‘set’ on the cruise control buttons on the wheel and it’s off. Until the next time you get in, at least. The policy of offering various levels of increasingly sophisticated assistance tech in optional Driving Assistant packages can be seen in two ways – one that it’s a bit mean not to include it as standard, the other being that if you don’t feel you need it you don’t need to pay for it. Given the poor rearward visibility we wish the alerts for unseen traffic when reversing out of spaces or driveways was among the standard kit, though.

For the driver and front seat passenger it’s pretty much as per the iX1, which is no bad thing given BMW interiors are generally practical, comfortable and stylish. The iX inspired ‘floating’ central armrest is neat as well, and has space beneath for stashing bags and other clobber. Inevitably that fashionable sloping roofline does compromise rear headroom over the more practical iX1, though legroom is still pretty good. If you’re buying as a family car it’ll be fine for smaller kids but if a teenage growth spurt could occur within your finance term you might want to think again, given even someone of average height will end up with their head pressing uncomfortably against the rooflining. Meanwhile out on the road the sportier billing of the iX2 and the fact it runs wheels a size up from the iX1 seem to trade comfort for style. To be fair it’s not uncomfortably firm but on the rapid-fire bumps of the Oxfordshire B-roads we drove it on it never quite felt settled. You’ll be spotting the theme by now but while the boot is a decent size it’s also a less practical shape than that on the iX1 and in pretty much every respect the iX2 demands some manner of compromise for its more distinctive looks.

In the modern style BMW pairs a digital instrument cluster with the central screen into a single curving display running across the driver’s side of the dashboard. While the graphics and interface on BMW’s operating system are generally up there with the best we’ve found this latest generation a little fiddly to use compared with the swipeable, tile-based arrangement of before. Now you seem to go straight from the home screen to fiddly, smartphone style icons, demanding too much time with your eyes off the road to operate safely. While BMW’s Live Cockpit Plus with cloud-based navigation and other features is standard the increasing trend for subscription-based ‘bolt-ons’ comes with the Digital Premium package, which adds everything from onboard gaming (when stationary), additional themed lighting ‘moods’ and more. On the basis most buyers went for M Sport trim anyway this is now standard on all iX2s as well, meaning a sportier look inside and out, figure-hugging seats and more. Nice-to-haves like a power tailgate and reversing camera are also standard, options like a fancy stereo, ‘Iconic’ glowing surround to that huge front grille and extra tech all available in easily understood bundles or as individual options if you prefer.

BMW has long pitched itself as a brand for keen drivers, even in this age of crossovers and SUVs. Perhaps surprising, then, that the single-motor version drives the front wheels instead of the rear, though it put its power down more smoothly than the Mercedes-Benz EQA we were driving the previous week on the same roads. The two iX2 versions available more or less mirror the equivalent petrol models, and comprise the eDrive20 and xDrive30, the ‘x’ signifying the twin-motor, all-wheel drive power. If perhaps not as accelerative as a Tesla Model Y or Polestar 2 it’s more than quick enough, BMW’s nifty sound effects going some way to replacing the thrill of accelerating quickly in a combustion-engined car. Both iX2 models claim official range of well over 250 miles, the single-motor eDrive20 capable of nearer 300 if driven carefully. If you’re anxious about making it to the next charging stop a neat ‘MAX RANGE’ setting reduces power-sapping acceleration, heating and other systems to increase your endurance by as much as 25 per cent. We didn’t get long enough with the car on this test to get a meaningful sense of how efficiently the iX2 uses its batteries in either case – when we do we’ll share a more detailed assessment of how far you’ll really go between charges.