Rival: 2026 BMW iX3 reviews are impressive... R2 has its work cut out

[savethemanual]

I would imagine most DCFC will be upgraded down the road as 800v becomes more of the normal.

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[DaveA]

whats the TLDR of why no 800v will prove to be a big mistake? R2 will be my first EV

400v is fine for R2 with a smaller pack than R1 as they probably improved the battery cooling system and it may hold a better charging curve. In reality 800v would shave some time off fast charging on road trips. It’s not something that would stop me from buying R2. It would just be nice to have since more manufacturers are moving to it.

 

[DuoRivians]

If Rivian introduces an 800V R2 / R1 soon, all I’m going to say is that a lot of 400V R2 / R1 owners are going to be upset or jealous.

I think there’s a lot of coping going on to try to say 400V is “fine”

Also, the R2 has a ~100kwh battery pack. Why do people say it’s a “small” pack? Maybe under 70kwh is, but 100kwh is larger than a dual standard R1 pack

 

[mkhuffman]

whats the TLDR of why no 800v will prove to be a big mistake? R2 will be my first EV

There is very little benefit beyond charging speed. Higher voltage might improve pack efficiency, but the improvement is so small that no driver would notice.

Tesla has been able to run a massive fleet of cars on their 400V charging network with huge commercial success. The R2 can use most of that same network, plus all the others. A smart business would see how Tesla achieved success and ignore all the people who think 800V is required for success. It isn't.

Once every DCFC station is upgraded to 800v+ it might be important. And definitely it is important if your vehicle has a 200 kWh battery. But it isn't that important if the battery is 100 kWh. Sure, faster is better. But isn't Iike 800V gives you a five minute charge. It doesn't.

 

[TexasBob]

Lots of rationalizing. 400v was a competitive spec ten years ago. All of the stations that I would want to go to are already or quickly moving to 800V (Walmart, EA, Tesla v4). You cut 30% off your road trip charging with 800V. If that is not important to you, all good, but it is a key differentiator for many.

The 768 cell pack will have 80-90kwh usable and probably around 85. That should give it a range of 300 ish on the AWD. A 210 mi (170 hwy) 30 minute refill on 400 V 10-80% means an extra 45 minutes on a 500 mile road trip.

Now compare that to the iX3 or the Traveler. Hmmm

 

[skyguyscott]

re: styling, nope, not liking it, but I am probably not in their TA. I think R2 is way better looking, and this is from a guy who hates the ridiculously comical Rivian headlights, although R2 lights looks better than R1. I think both Rivian and BMW will loose potential customers over the styling and I predict BMW will quickly iterate the styling within a few years. I don't predict Rivian is going to ditch their stupid looking stadium shiners. But this is all irrelevant regardless.

 

[sunydrm]

Lots of rationalizing. 400v was a competitive spec ten years ago. All of the stations that I would want to go to are already or quickly moving to 800V (Walmart, EA, Tesla v4). You cut 30% off your road trip charging with 800V. If that is not important to you, all good, but it is a key differentiator for many.

The 768 cell pack will have 80-90kwh usable and probably around 85. That should give it a range of 300 ish on the AWD. A 210 mi (170 hwy) 30 minute refill on 400 V 10-80% means an extra 45 minutes on a 500 mile road trip.

Now compare that to the iX3 or the Traveler. Hmmm

800v only affects the resistance of the wires of the battery pack. The cells are where most of the heat comes from

Model 3 is currently being used to set the cannonball run record in the U.S.

What I think is more interesting is whether the cylindrical cells in an EV make charging slower. Teslas charge relatively slow and rivian is one of the slowest there is. The only EV that has demonstrated good charging with them is Lucid. Lucid mainly uses them to sculpt unusual battery pack shapes.

The issue is these large cylindrical cells like found in R2 or cybertruck seem to charge even slower. I'm guessing the bigger cell has cooling issues

 

[usulio]

Lots of rationalizing. 400v was a competitive spec ten years ago. All of the stations that I would want to go to are already or quickly moving to 800V (Walmart, EA, Tesla v4). You cut 30% off your road trip charging with 800V. If that is not important to you, all good, but it is a key differentiator for many.

The 768 cell pack will have 80-90kwh usable and probably around 85. That should give it a range of 300 ish on the AWD. A 210 mi (170 hwy) 30 minute refill on 400 V 10-80% means an extra 45 minutes on a 500 mile road trip.

Now compare that to the iX3 or the Traveler. Hmmm

I don't think a 10-80% charge of 60kWh will take 30 minutes on R2. On the R1 standard pack (92.5 kWh usable), Rivian advertises 10%-80% speed of 27 minutes and people are saying they do see that. That would extrapolate to under 25 minutes even if there are no improvements over R1. So call an extra 30 minutes, your 500 mile road trip goes from 8.5 hours to 9.

Yes it matters, but also even choosing efficient tires over ATs would make a much bigger difference than that.

I also think that price-wise the iX3 and Traveler should be considered R1 competitors more than R2, but we'll see.

 

[swflor]

I think that's being a bit short-sighted. I believe that BMW is one of the few that is learning from past mistakes and is actually giving it 100% with their Neue Klasse. They have the basics down:

• 800V architecture
• 400 kW charging
• 400-mile EPA range
• NACS (for U.S. market)
• Customizable one-pedal driving
• Looks like a pretty efficient use of space (other than the laughable frunk)

All the other stuff is going to come down to a matter of preference for styling inside and out and how much you're willing to spend. And as far as service is concerned, I have plenty of BMW service centers in my area, and only one Rivian service center. And I can't even PURCHASE a Rivian in my state (NC). I'd have to drive out of state to Virginia (three hours away) to pick up the vehicle (NC will let Rivian have service centers, but not a dealership to sell vehicles).

Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to pick up an R2 (unless the spec that I want overlaps with the iX3), but I'm not so quick to poo-poo the competition.

My biggest diss on the car would be this god-awful steering wheel (which is optional, thank goodness, according to Kyle of OoS).

I have heard deliveries out of Knightdale are coming sometime in 2026. Might align with R2.

Richmond SC is much less busy now that Knightdale SC is open. Most of their volume was from Nc customers traveling up.

The team at Knightdale is by far the best. I have dealt with Richmond (sales and service), Knightdale Service and Miami (sales and service). Richmond sales team is great, service is ok. Knightdale service is spot on. Great team. Miami is … Miami.

 

[DuoRivian]

I don't think a 10-80% charge of 60kWh will take 30 minutes on R2. On the R1 standard pack (92.5 kWh usable), Rivian advertises 10%-80% speed of 27 minutes and people are saying they do see that. That would extrapolate to under 25 minutes even if there are no improvements over R1. So call an extra 30 minutes, your 500 mile road trip goes from 8.5 hours to 9.

Yes it matters, but also even choosing efficient tires over ATs would make a much bigger difference than that.

I also think that price-wise the iX3 and Traveler should be considered R1 competitors more than R2, but we'll see.

The iX3 is definitely an R2 competitor on price when it will start around $55k (2027) and has a $60k version next summer. The R2 will be $45k to around $65k tri?) and the R1S starts at $76k.
These will definitely be cross shopped. Personally the R2 has a better design but that is not the only factor to consider, nor is 800v (doesn’t mean a huge amount to me but I see the benefit). BMW have from all reviews and the specs done an excellent job and it will hit the R2. As I expect the Lucid Earth will.

 

[lefkonj]

Should be a great vehicle with some cross over shopping between it and the R2 but slightly different markets.

 

[iansriv]

I've owned a few BMWs and like them. This one is very cool but I cant quite understand what it is. From certain points it looks like a station wagon and from others it looks like a sub compact. It def doesnt look like a SUV to me. Is it a competitor for the R2 or R3? Whatever it is, it's a cool car.

 

[mkhuffman]

Lots of rationalizing. 400v was a competitive spec ten years ago. All of the stations that I would want to go to are already or quickly moving to 800V (Walmart, EA, Tesla v4). You cut 30% off your road trip charging with 800V. If that is not important to you, all good, but it is a key differentiator for many.

The 768 cell pack will have 80-90kwh usable and probably around 85. That should give it a range of 300 ish on the AWD. A 210 mi (170 hwy) 30 minute refill on 400 V 10-80% means an extra 45 minutes on a 500 mile road trip.

Now compare that to the iX3 or the Traveler. Hmmm

I used to think that my next BEV had to have 800V charging for me to get it. Then I got the R1T and discovered that it actually charges really fast on a 400V charger. Fast enough that I don't get frustrated with how long it takes. I was maddeningly frustrated with my Mach-e's charging speed, which is also a 400V vehicle.

I agree, faster is better. I just don't think it is going to have a material impact on the sales of the R2. Maybe it will, because maybe there are a lot of people comparing specs and will think they have to have a 800V vehicle, just like I used to think.

On the other hand, my friend who just got a Model Y, has no idea what the pack voltage is on his new car. It wasn't even a factor. What was a factor was the availability of Superchargers.

As you know, the R2 shares this advantage. A lot of the R2 buyers will be people like my friend who have no idea what it means to have a 800V pack. What will be important is the charging speed. If the R2 can do a 10-80% charge in 25 minutes, most people will think that is good enough. IMO.

 

[DuoRivian]

I've owned a few BMWs and like them. This one is very cool but I cant quite understand what it is. From certain points it looks like a station wagon and from others it looks like a sub compact. It def doesnt look like a SUV to me. Is it a competitor for the R2 or R3? Whatever it is, it's a cool car.

It is a compact SUV/Crossover which can be viewed as tall wagons in many cases. Pretty clear the segment it is in- the electric version of the X3.

 

[AlphaSnowbordergirl]

If Rivian introduces an 800V R2 / R1 soon, all I’m going to say is that a lot of 400V R2 / R1 owners are going to be upset or jealous.

I think there’s a lot of coping going on to try to say 400V is “fine”

Also, the R2 has a ~100kwh battery pack. Why do people say it’s a “small” pack? Maybe under 70kwh is, but 100kwh is larger than a dual standard R1 pack

I wouldn't be that jealous. I'll be charging at home 99% anyway. As long as it charges and the battery degradation has a decent curve for the 8-10 years I plan to own, not a big deal. Heck, I'm currently driving a car that has a manual seat adjustment, no back up sensor, or self fold mirrors. Any Rivian I get is an upgrade (pre-ordered an R2). It's really based on people's priorities and lifestyle. For me, more than fine. No coping here. Just my reality.

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