What's all this about?

There's a new BMW iX1 in town. It's an entry-level, longer-range model than the existing xDrive30, by virtue of the fact it has one fewer electric motor, two fewer driven wheels and, um, quite a lot fewer horsepower to play with. Its name is the eDrive20.

What are we looking at when it comes to the technical specification?

Unlike the all-wheel-drive, twin-motor xDrive30, this new iX1 has a single motor integrated into its front axle; yup, it's front-wheel drive. Power drops from 313hp and 494Nm on the 30, to 204hp and 247Nm here, but the good news is the battery pack is exactly the same size at 64.7kWh. That means you get anything from 268 to 296 miles of one-shot driving range from the iX1 eDrive20, depending on which spec and wheel size you've gone for, which compares well to the 259-267 miles of official range BMW quotes for the xDrive30.

That IS good. But I lose quite some performance, yes, as a result of the power drops?

Well, yes, but the iX1 eDrive20 still looks perfectly sprightly enough on paper. The xDrive30 can run 0-62mph in 5.7 seconds and has a top speed of 112mph, whereas the eDrive20 takes quite a bit longer to do the former - 8.6 seconds - and is a little shy of the latter at 106mph all-in. They're still more than respectable numbers, mind.

Impressive. What are the charging speeds like?

Same as the xDrive30, which is to say an 11kW AC onboard charger as standard, with the option of upgrading that to 22kW if you have three-phase electricity at home. The maximum public rapid charging rate for the iX1 eDrive20 is 130kW, so in terms of time, all these electrical-related numbers mean the car will go from 0-100 per cent battery in six-and-a-half hours on the 11kW connection or three hours 45 minutes at 22kW, while the 130kW DC hook-up should see the BMW's state of charge leap from 10 to 80 per cent in just 29 minutes.

Sounds good - colour me interested. How much, what are the specs and when's it on sale?

Bearing in mind the iX1 xDrive30 starts from £53,295 as an xLine, the eDrive20's kick-off point of £44,560 looks very favourable, until you realise that's for the most basic of three specifications, that of Sport. For a comparable eDrive20 xLine, you're looking at £46,560, while the M Sport rises to £49,310 before options. All versions of the iX1 eDrive20 are available to order from BMW UK right now.

Matt Robinson - 6 Sep 2023