Free Range Electric

BMW's first made-in-India EV, breaks through with a long list of ergonomic benefits, price advantages and more range, in exchange for one less motor drawing from the same battery. Is this the win-win that BMW needed

- Dipayan Dutta

You have to give it to BMW India for what they've done with the BMW iXI LWB. Whether you consider the perspective of the fact that BMW managed to keep their intentions under wraps in the run-up to the Auto Expo, and then drop the price bomb that potentially could turn the entry-luxury electric space on its head, and even lock horns with the Asian manufacturers that have been making value propositions that German badge value couldn't overturn.

The BMW iX1 LWB which now goes on sale for a whopping Rs 18 lakh less than its SWB counterpart then is BMW's war cry in the Indian market, the dynamic response just a couple of months after we drove the CBU standard iXI, and a showcase of just how advancing their position in the Indian market is to BMW. The iX1 LWB is an amalgamation of smart sacrifices of performance and benefits that matter to the end-user making it that much more attractive.

Visually, unless you see both back to back, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the iX1 apart from its standard sibling until you have a straight look at the car's profile. The second-row door has gotten much larger with more aperture, but I think the LWB's profile is better proportioned with the large headlamps and massive grille theme on the iX1 SWB than the standard car. What didn't really feel up to spec though, was the fact that the 18-inch wheels have been carried forward, and on this much larger profile they look even more lost in the wheel arches. This is especially true considering that BMW will sell it in India with the M-sport trim which should at the very least offer 20 inchers as an option.