BMW completes winter tests for iX1
The all-electric BMW iX1 has successfully completed its driving dynamics testing at the BMW Group’s winter test centre in the Arctic Circle. The series development process has thus reached its final phase.
The winter tests in Arjeplog, Sweden, took place in parallel with the testing of the combustion engine variant and the plug-in hybrid of the new X1 generation. The drive and chassis systems were tested and further tuned for all variants.
In the case of the iX1, the focus was also on the behaviour of the electric motors, the high-voltage battery as well as the power electronics and charging technology in “freezing cold and winter road conditions”, according to BMW.
The iX1 will (also) be available with all-wheel drive, as BMW now reveals. Whether the all-wheel drive is standard or only optional, however, remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that the iX1 will have a heated battery. Thanks to “the latest battery cell technology and an intelligently controlled thermal management system”, short charging times and long ranges should be possible even at “extreme temperatures below zero”.
The BMW iX1 will join the model range immediately after the market launch of the new BMW X1, which will begin in autumn 2022. As reported, BMW quotes a WLTP range of 413 to 438 kilometres for the iX1 as “forecast values based on the vehicle’s development status to date”. As the provisional WLTP consumption of 17.3 to 18.4 kWh/100km given on the product page is quite high, there was already speculation at the time about an all-wheel drive version. BMW has not yet given any details about the battery.
Like the combustion engine, the iX1 is based on the FAAR front-wheel drive architecture. All variants are built by BMW in Leipzig. The next generation of the Mini Countryman is also based on FAAR and will also be built in Leipzig as a sister model. This means there will also be a purely electric version of the Countyman.
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