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

[mkhuffman]

400kW charging is future proofed since chargers at that speed are not even out in EU/US. Even when they become widely available it will still be a fast charge.
Most EV owners own a home, as do most Americans so at home charging is feasible. Even for those where it isn’t a 400 mile range is over 20000 miles a year which is much greater than the average annual mileage of a typical American. Therefore the vast majority can recharge just once a week when they go to Costco, Walmart etc and in 30 or so minutes get their weekly charge.

Those of a negative disposition will pick holes but charging infrastructure is largely here with more planned in the next year or so. The BMW (the purpose of this thread) hits the sweet spot for most people.

Normally I am not this pessimistic, but I have had some horrible public charging experiences. So, so many. I agree it is getting better, but I still have bad experiences. Almost every time I try to public charge. Crazy.

My favorite DCFC network by far is Rivian's. I have never had a bad experience there. Never. I will go out of my way to charge at one, if I can manage to find one on my route.

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[Virtio]

I've volunteered at some local EV events talking to people about EVs and showing my R1S. For many people there simply isn't enough range to offset the anxiety of driving an EV. There are many perceived obstacles, many of which have greatly improved, but still remain. Many have no idea where or how often they will need to charge, how to get a charger installed at their home (the perceived cost of this can scare many away), what kind of charger they need (CCS, NACS, CHAdeMO), how long it will take to charge (some think hours), if they can find a charger, will it work and will they need an app, will all the charge stalls be full and how long will be the wait (again, hours). Gas is so simple and available it's hard to argue in some cases. However, if you can get someone to drive an EV it's much easier to win them over. I was chatting with a salesman at the event and he told me that a lot of people are EV "curious" and once they drive one they start finding a way to make it work for them. I'm really glad to hear about Walmart and once people start seeing large numbers of DCFC at locations they frequent, EV sales should rise.

 

[Zorg]

I've volunteered at some local EV events talking to people about EVs and showing my R1S. For many people there simply isn't enough range to offset the anxiety of driving an EV. There are many perceived obstacles, many of which have greatly improved, but still remain. Many have no idea where or how often they will need to charge, how to get a charger installed at their home (the perceived cost of this can scare many away), what kind of charger they need (CCS, NACS, CHAdeMO), how long it will take to charge (some think hours), if they can find a charger, will it work and will they need an app, will all the charge stalls be full and how long will be the wait (again, hours). Gas is so simple and available it's hard to argue in some cases. However, if you can get someone to drive an EV it's much easier to win them over. I was chatting with a salesman at the event and he told me that a lot of people are EV "curious" and once they drive one they start finding a way to make it work for them. I'm really glad to hear about Walmart and once people start seeing large numbers of DCFC at locations they frequent, EV sales should rise.

We were the first to get an EV in the family back in 2017 (used model S). Since then, the rest of the family has joined. Nothing like riding in an EV to get it.

 

[computertom]

We no longer have our R1T, but did take two road trips over this holiday break in our Ioniq 5N.

This car has a 77kWh battery and gets a measly 230 miles per full charge, or this winter more like 180. That said, road tripping it was awesome. We had fast, reliable charging at Ionna and EA and didn’t have to wait for charging for a few thousand miles. We were almost always well over 200kW/hr (or 262!) for the first half+ of the battery and our dog and my bladder loved stopping every two hours. Was it as fast as my gas vehicles? Nope. Was it significantly more relaxing and a fun adventure? Yes!

Incidentally, the worst charging experience we had was West Lebanon, NH Rivian Adventure Network station where 1/6 chargers were broken and always reporting as available and there was a line to charge. Couple that with the dismal speed and I’ll be doing my best to avoid Rivian‘s network. (You’re welcome! Though I do expect we’ll buy another Rivian in the next year or so this bummed me out.)

I won’t hesitate to take our small battery, fast charging, very fun car on many more roadtrips.

And about that new BMW - not being able to easily change regen levels is just plain dumb. It’s so easy on the I5 and you can ignore it (my wife) or change it all the time (me!), but burying it deep in a screen is just dumb.

 

[Sportstick]

I realize the current reports, but this contradicts a personal face-to-face conversation with a BMW engineer at the CES iX3 presentation last year. I plan to ask again in two weeks. I'll share the response.

I spoke with BMW engineering/tech folks from Germany at CES today. Despite what they said last year, that a choice of NMC or LFP would exist, they today reported that the American BMW subsidiary has since told them LFP was not needed, even as option, as range is the most important attribute, so they are all-in on NMC.

They seemed both interested and surprised when I told them I'd be fine with a slow charging 200 mile battery, because I think of the power needs of an electric car like my iPhone or Apple watch...use it for a day or two and plug it in overnight. How much do most people drive in one day? If I need to go further than the car can handle comfortably, I would usually fly anyway. No road trips at all here.

We talked about battery safety, but they could not answer all my concerns, so, they are off my list for this purchase cycle. Too bad...the car looked and felt great, screens easily readable and instantly responding, and all else was quite delightful.

 

[DuoRivian]

We no longer have our R1T, but did take two road trips over this holiday break in our Ioniq 5N.

This car has a 77kWh battery and gets a measly 230 miles per full charge, or this winter more like 180. That said, road tripping it was awesome. We had fast, reliable charging at Ionna and EA and didn’t have to wait for charging for a few thousand miles. We were almost always well over 200kW/hr (or 262!) for the first half+ of the battery and our dog and my bladder loved stopping every two hours. Was it as fast as my gas vehicles? Nope. Was it significantly more relaxing and a fun adventure? Yes!

Incidentally, the worst charging experience we had was West Lebanon, NH Rivian Adventure Network station where 1/6 chargers were broken and always reporting as available and there was a line to charge. Couple that with the dismal speed and I’ll be doing my best to avoid Rivian‘s network. (You’re welcome! Though I do expect we’ll buy another Rivian in the next year or so this bummed me out.)

I won’t hesitate to take our small battery, fast charging, very fun car on many more roadtrips.

And about that new BMW - not being able to easily change regen levels is just plain dumb. It’s so easy on the I5 and you can ignore it (my wife) or change it all the time (me!), but burying it deep in a screen is just dumb.

My charging experience for the past three years has also been good including at EV.

I spoke with BMW engineering/tech folks from Germany at CES today. Despite what they said last year, that a choice of NMC or LFP would exist, they today reported that the American BMW subsidiary has since told them LFP was not needed, even as option, as range is the most important attribute, so they are all-in on NMC.

They seemed both interested and surprised when I told them I'd be fine with a slow charging 200 mile battery, because I think of the power needs of an electric car like my iPhone or Apple watch...use it for a day or two and plug it in overnight. How much do most people drive in one day? If I need to go further than the car can handle comfortably, I would usually fly anyway. No road trips at all here.

We talked about battery safety, but they could not answer all my concerns, so, they are off my list for this purchase cycle. Too bad...the car looked and felt great, screens easily readable and instantly responding, and all else was quite delightful.

They obviously thought longer range was key - you have multiple people on this thread fetishizing even greater than 400 miles even though this is more than the weekly mileage the average American drives. They made the right call because the majority will not have your perspective of going with 200 miles and charging like a phone.

Surprised that because a few people at a conference couldn’t answer all your questions to your satisfaction six months before sales in the US it is now off the list.

 

[Sportstick]

My charging experience for the past three years has also been good including at EV.

They obviously thought longer range was key - you have multiple people on this thread fetishizing even greater than 400 miles even though this is more than the weekly mileage the average American drives.

Surprised that because a few people at a conference couldn’t answer all your questions to your satisfaction six months before sales in the US it is now off the list.

Apologies if my writing was unclear. It's off the list because the answer about no LFP was definitive from a clear authority/responsible BMW manager visiting from Germany.
When I challenged them on managing dendrite growth on anodes, high-temperature capacity for battery enclosure, differential response to impact when penetrated, they did not have satisfactory answers to those issues.

 

[DuoRivians]

Apologies if my writing was unclear. It's off the list because the answer about no LFP was definitive from a clear authority/responsible BMW manager visiting from Germany.
When I challenged them on managing dendrite growth on anodes, high-temperature capacity for battery enclosure, differential response to impact when penetrated, they did not have satisfactory answers to those issues.

I don’t think LFP makes sense for iX3. If they wanted to release a sub $35K car, then perhaps.

 

[M3_R2]

One thing about the BMW iX3 is that I think you can create quite a few different shortcuts. So if this is something you do frequently or just want to have for say in the event of icy roads, you could save it as a shortcut tile in the Quick Access panel.

This would still require you to tap the level you want from the regen menu but at least it's no longer buried if you do this. Two quick taps and you are done with no searching involved.

It wouldn't be a show-stopper for me but then again, I've only needed to change my regen once in 8 years due to being on the highway on black ice where normal regen was locking my wheels up like crazy. Othwerwise I can usually finesse it to avoid that happening.

I'm not a big fan of paddles for regen given how infrequently I would use them but they are certainly readily available on the Hyundai's and Kia's if you need them. I like the strong deceleration available on my Tesla - the more you have, the more you can make micro adjustments through the pedal - the less you are hitting the brakes. ESP in stop and go traffic.

I don't think BMW is going to lose many customers by not providing an LFP model of the iX3.

 

[Sportstick]

I don’t think LFP makes sense for iX3. If they wanted to release a sub $35K car, then perhaps.

Depends on which benefit you seek. I don't care about the price. I would load up a car with most available content (other than ADAS features). From my info and colleagues in the automotive battery industry, I feel safer with the lower risk chemistry of LFP vs NMC in my garage. I'd pay extra for that.

EDIT: The directly competitive Volvo EX60 about to be revealed will allow the choice of LFP, which is very on-brand for Volvo's emphasis on safety.

 

[Sportstick]

I don't think BMW is going to lose many customers by not providing an LFP model of the iX3.

I agree with you completely. I'm an outlier. The general population knoweldge about battery chemistry is quite low. In our company research, most still can't explain how a hybrid works.

 

[Eric9610]

I wonder if BMW has a concern of 800v with LFP density. It has to be another reason. It could also be that they feel in the price range at volume NMC will be cheaper since the same pack will be used on more models.

 

[DuoRivian]

Depends on which benefit you seek. I don't care about the price. I would load up a car with most available content (other than ADAS features). From my info and colleagues in the automotive battery industry, I feel safer with the lower risk chemistry of LFP vs NMC in my garage. I'd pay extra for that.

EDIT: The directly competitive Volvo EX60 about to be revealed will allow the choice of LFP, which is very on-brand for Volvo's emphasis on safety.

Surprised they have two chemistry’s. I don’t know of another company that has both chemistry’s for the same vehicle.

 

[Sportstick]

I wonder if BMW has a concern of 800v with LFP density. It has to be another reason. It could also be that they feel in the price range at volume NMC will be cheaper since the same pack will be used on more models.

Does not seem so. The engineer was willing to have a long chat as we stood there. He said the platform and architecture is completely capable and ready to go and they will use LFP on smaller vehicles based on the same Neue Klasse platform. He said this was all due to BMWUSA giving them input that they did not want/need LFP in America. For the strategic reasons you share, they would have understood those last year when they gave the opposite availability answer.

 

[Sportstick]

Surprised they have two chemistry’s. I don’t know of another company that has both chemistry’s for the same vehicle.

It would seem to give them a wider and more unique position in the market. Let's hope they don't screw it up by limiting it to an otherwise low-content model that cannot be fully optioned.

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