2024 BMW iX1 xDrive20 | Electric Car Review

BMW advertises that the iX1 “radiates electrifying determination with its functionality and versatility to provide inspiration to pursue new paths even in everyday use”. 

It sounds great, plenty of fancy words, but what does it all mean? What does the cheapest fully electric vehicle from BMW offer, and how does it stack up in its everyday use in our fast and busy lives? A week at the wheel of the new 2024 BMW iX1 eDrive20 would give the team at DriveLife some practical viewpoints around its so-called practicality.   

This is not my first time behind the wheel of the iX1, I drove the iX1 xDrive30 as part of our DriveLife X-Factor Weekends – Electrifying Excitement: BMW iX1 reaches the top of New Zealand at Cape Reinga where I covered more than 1,220km in 4 days. 

What We Like and Dislike About The 2024 BMW iX1 xDrive20

What’s In The 2024 BMW iX1 Range?

The BMW iX1 comes in two variants, the eDrive20 ($86,900) and the eDrive30 ($98,900). This makes it easy to compare, you have two specs, the bottom / entry-level spec of the eDrive20 and the top-performance spec of the eDrive30. 

Like most electric vehicles, the main difference between the models is the electric motor’s power output. They either have larger or more motors to provide more power. The eDrive20 has a single-axle front motor with 150kW power output, and the eDrive30 has a dual-motor front and rear axle setup with 230kW power output.

Battery capacity is the same on both variants, a 66.5kWh battery pack. Energy consumption is to be expected the eDrive20 is more efficient offering 15.5kWh/100km over the eDrive30 which has a second motor, offering 18.1kWh/100km.

The main visual difference between the two variants is the wheels, the rest of the car is the same outside, both sharing the M Sport Package. The eDrive30 also gets a wider selection of wheel and interior upholstery options. 

2024 BMW iX1 Colour Range

There are 10 colours available from the standard BMW iX1 palette. This does not include the extended range you can discuss with BMW within their BMW individual paint options, for custom paint colours. 

• Alpine White
• Mineral White 
• Phytonic Blue
• Cape York Green
• Space Silver
• Sanreemo Green
• Utah Orange
• Black Saphire
• Portimao Blue
• BMW Individual Frozen Pure Grey – $3,300

There was no optional extra on our review car, which retails at $86,900.

For a full list of specs and options available for the BMW iX1 eDrive20 head on over to the BMW New Zealand’s website 

How Does The 2024 BMW iX1 xDrive20 Compare To Its Competition?

The BMW iX1 is not alone in its market segment, as it’s a very heated and busy place right now. Fully electric SUVs are the product of the moment, with a new model from almost every brand becoming available. This means that consumers are spoiled for choice, so every brand’s product needs to speak for itself and stand out from the crowd.

Make/ Model	Battery Capacity kW-hr	Power/ Torque kW/Nm	0-100km/h seconds	Range (WLTP), km	Boot Space, litres	Price
Tesla Model Y Performance	75	336/639	3.7	514	854	$108,900
BMW iX1 eDrive30	65.5	230 / 494	5.7	575	490	$98,900
Lexus UX 300e Limited	54	150 / 300	7.5	360	310	$89,990
BMW iX1 eDrive20	65.5	150 / 247	8.6	575	490	$86,900
Volvo EX30 Ultra – Twin	69	200 / 534	3.6	450	318	$84,990
VW ID.4 Pro	77	150 / 310	8.5	519	543	$79,990

Please note that DriveLife does its best to ensure the information above is correct at the time of publication, however, prices, specifications and models can change over time. Please bear that in mind when comparing models in the comparison table.

First Impressions Of The 2024 BMW iX1 xDrive20

As it was not my first time with the BMW iX1, I knew what to expect. I did however realise that the model I did the DriveLife X-Factor Weekends – Electrifying Excitement: BMW iX1 reaches the top of New Zealand at Cape Reinga was the top-spec xDrive30 model, unlike this review car, the xDrive20 which is the entry-level. Overall, not a huge difference between the two variants, the most noticeable would be the wheels. Eighteen-inch alloys on the xDrive20 and 19-inch or 20-inch on the xDrive30. They are the same, but the larger alloys definitely make it feel a bit more expensive and sporty. Both of the vehicles we tested were white; it would have been nice to see it in one of its other colour options. 

What’s The Interior Like In The 2024 BMW iX1 xDrive20?

The inside is surprisingly spacious for a compact electric SUV. Both front seats are well sculpted, with great side and lumbar support. In terms of updates and interior styling, the iX1 sits somewhere in between the iX and iX3 as it has the newer generation driver displays and UI like the iX. I like the inside of the iX1; it’s very clean and simple. I especially like the standing wireless charging pad at the top of the centre console. There was also a nice salute to the EV powertrain, with the blue EV BMW logo on the steering wheel. 

Rear-seat passengers have decent room, reflecting the styling of the front seats but in a more subtle fashion. Legroom in the back is good too, even for taller grown-ups. My almost 7-year-old daughter’s booster seat clicked into the ISO connections very easily, just lift a small plastic flap and click. Then thread the seatbelt through the loop so she can then do up her own belt. In some cars, this can be tricky if the buckle is recessed too low into the seats, but she had no problem with the iX1.

The driver’s display is set up like a car from the future, with angular gauges on each side of the display, for ePower% and speed. The ePower% displays the percentage of power being requested from the motor at any time. This seems like a weird gauge, but it’s very relevant to electric driving, as you can become far more efficient with your power by altering how you use it. The middle of the display shows a BMW iX1 on a road, with 3 key markers; current estimated range, the best case if you drive more efficiently and worst case if you drive less efficiently. Learning how to alter your driving style greatly affects the range, and can dramatically affect the maximum range of the vehicle.

The iX1 Infotainment display is on a curved screen that extends from the driver’s display. It runs the standard BMW iDrive interface, allowing you to access a wide range of the vehicle’s settings plus your standard features such as navigation, phone, media, etc. BMW’s iDrive has always felt a bit more than you need, with lots of menus. Thankfully, the latest generation has focused on keeping the everyday stuff at the top layer with more options below for those who want to dig a bit deeper. 

The overall fit and finish of the cabin is typical BMW, with nice leathers, soft plastics and clean aluminium trim running across the dash and doors. I was not sure about the wireless mobile phone holder, which is upright on the front of the two central cupholders. It didn’t feel like a great use of space to me personally, and I would often forget my phone when getting out of the car, as it was almost hidden away there. You also can’t just slot your phone on top of the clip, you have to clip your phone in each time, or it will fall back when you drive off. 

Boot capacity in the iX1 is good, this was tested well on the Electrifying Weekend journey to Cape Reinga where we had no problems getting several bags and camera gear into the car for the trip. The nice thing about the boot is that it seems to be deeper in both height and length than it would appear from the outside. This was nice as a lot of EV cars can see their boot space compromised due to battery placement requirements. The iX1 also has a handy pocket on the left-hand side with a cargo net to hold things in place. Great for bottles, or delicate items.

What’s The 2024 BMW iX1 xDrive20 Like To Drive?

As mentioned this was not my first time in the iX1, I had been lucky to cover 1,220km in 4 days back in December 2023, which gave me an excellent insight into what It’s like to spend some real time behind the wheel. This time around, I got the iX1 xDrive20 to slot into my everyday life for a week to see how it is with the average day-to-day stuff. 

Inside, the iX1 is quiet, even on some of the more poorly constructed roads in New Zealand. Thanks to the battery being under the main cabin, this helps to dramatically reduce the cabin noise that comes into the vehicle. The only noise you get is a low hum or rumble, which is the road transfer noise from the wheels to the chassis. It’s a bit of a double-edged sword with EVs as combustion cars have had an edge on this, with the noise of the engine sometimes drowning out cabin noise. EV’s don’t have this issue, however with no engine noise, the cabins need to be quiet, otherwise you end up hearing a lot of unfamiliar mechanical noises you don’t expect.

The iX1’s steering wheel controls are clean and simple, both sides mimic each other in style, with a control dial surrounded by several buttons. The left side is shared by the cruise control and speed limiter controls, while the right side covers audio volume, phone and menu selection of the driver’s display. It’s not cluttered and all the buttons are easy to reach. 

Handling in the iX1 is nice, the steering is light and sensitive, easy to place the car on the open road or in a tight car park. It’s tied into the typical BMW drivetrain setup, where you feel very connected with the road and confidently in control at all times. Even when you do decide to give it the beans, the vehicle handles just like you expect, without any sudden or unexpected reactions.

Braking is good too, and being an EV it has brake regeneration. There’s no easy way to adjust it, you just have one standard mode. It is not strong enough for complete one-foot driving, however it does a great job and is always nice to have. The brakes themselves, when required, came on like anchors, as they are paired up with the brake regeneration. I didn’t try an emergency stop, but I imagine it would come to a stop rather smartly.

There are several drive modes in the iX1; Eco, Comfort, Sport and Individual. I don’t really see the point in having a Sport option for vehicles like this. Even in Comfort mode, if you ask for more power, it gets delivered quickly due to the high torque of the electric motor. Sport mode makes the time delay between pedal and action shorter, but not in any sense of feeling sporty. I kept the vehicle in Eco most of the time, as it helped to increase the everyday range. This would be displayed on the driver’s display, indicating how much additional range you have achieved, which sort of turned into a challenge for me from day to day. 

Visibility from the iX1 is great, the driver has a good, clear view around the vehicle from the driver’s seat. The rear view is a bit narrower than the other windows, but I never found this to be an issue. Anywhere there was a blind spot, the BMW array of safety systems filled the gaps with confidence. Especially when parking, as I personally think that BMW has one of the best 360 degree parking systems on the market. It’s so intuitive, even moving the 3D camera to show you the kerb you’re parking up against, which I love. 

During my week with the iX1 achieved 22.0 kWh per 100km. BMW advertise 17.2 kWh per 100km, which is a reasonable difference. However, I do feel that I could halve the difference if I was a bit more focused on being more of an efficient EV driver. Just like a combustion vehicle, there are ways to drive inefficiently and ways to drive efficiently. I do feel that 22 kWh/100km is a very reasonable expectation of daily runabout use. 

I liked my time in the iX1, it’s a decent fully electric SUV which is similar to the normal range of combustion models you can get too. So for those who do not want something that’s too out-there looking, the iX1 could fit that bill easily.

2024 BMW iX1 xDrive20 – Specifications

Vehicle Type	Fully Electric
Starting Price	$86,900
Price as Tested	$86,900
Engine	Single-motor front-wheel drive
Power, Torque kW/Nm	150 / 247
Transmission	EV
Spare Wheel	N/A
Kerb Weight, Kg	1,515
Length x Width x Height mm	4,500 x 1,845 x 1,616
Boot Space / Cargo Capacity, Litres (seats up/seats down)	490 / 1,495
Battery capacity, kWh	66.5
Energy Economy, kWh/100km	Advertised Spec – Combined – 17.2 Real-World Test – Combined – 22.0 Low Usage: 6-10 / Medium Usage 11-19 / High Usage 19+
Towing Capacity Kg, unbraked/braked	750/NA
Turning circle metres	11.7 Small: 6-10m / Medium 10-12m / Large 12m+
Warranty	BMW 5 Years or 100,000km
Safety information	ANCAP Rating – 5 stars – Link Rightcar.govt.nz – 5 Stars – QKQ248

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