BMW announces iX2 electric SUV for 2024

• New BMW EV arrives in March 2024
• 309bhp and up to 279 miles of range
• Available to order now from £56,540

BMW will expand its ever-widening range of electric models even further in March of next year with the arrival of the all-new iX2.

Going on sale alongside petrol-powered versions of the X2 coupe-SUV - which you can read about separately – the iX2 will initially be offered with a single all-electric powertrain. The iX2 xDrive30, as it shall be known, will be fitted with two electric motors, which can deliver a maximum power output of 309bhp to all four wheels. That’ll make the iX2 capable of powering from 0-62mph in a very sprightly 5.6 seconds, but its top speed will be limited to 112mph.

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More important to most EV buyers, though, will be the car’s range. Official WLTP figures put that at between 259 and 279 miles on average, courtesy of a battery pack with a 65kWh useable capacity.

The powertrain is the same one fitted to early versions of the iX1, with which the iX2 also shares its platform. That car eventually spawned an additional drivetrain, the eDrive20i, which has a single motor delivering 201bhp to just the front wheels, but there’s no official word yet on whether the iX2 will follow suit later on. 

The car supports AC charging of up to 11kW, but as most UK residences don’t have the three-phase electrics necessary to deliver it, most people will only be able to charge at 7.4kW when at home. DC rapid-charging of up to 130kW is provided as standard, which can deliver a 10% to 80% top-up in 29 minutes, provided you can find a public charger that’s powerful enough.

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There are a number of other functions on hand to help you make the most of your battery’s charge, too. Through the infotainment system, the driver can choose between various levels of energy recuperation to feed energy back into the battery that would otherwise be lost through deceleration. There’s also an adaptive recuperation mode, where the car decides automatically how much recuperation to apply according to the prevailing driving conditions.

There’s also a ‘Max Range’ driving mode, where power and top speed are restricted, and various comfort functions are scaled back, and BMW says this can increase range by up to 25%.

The sat-nav helps, too, by automatically providing charging-optimised routes when its current range is not sufficient to get to the destination. It’ll work out the route that’ll get you to your final stop the quickest, using the fastest available charging points. And, when the system does plan a stop at a DC charger, the battery is automatically pre-heated and preconditioned to allow it to take on charge most effectively.

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Elsewhere, the iX2 will be very similar to other versions of the forthcoming X2, so we expect a posh-feeling interior with a twin-screen infotainment layout (10.7 inches for the digital driver readout, 10.25 inches for the central touchscreen) that’s housed behind a single piece of glass that curves around the driver. One thing that will be slightly different, though, is the boot space on offer. With 525 litres, the iX2’s boot is 35 litres smaller than that of the M35i version of the X2, but 10 litres bigger than that of the entry-level sDrive20i mild hybrid.

The iX2 xDrive30 is available to order now, with prices starting at £56,540.

To find out what we think of the closely-related BMW iX1, read our in-depth review...