Tried an iX3 yesterday

So my diesel X3 had to go in for a service yesterday. I called the dealer and told them I'm in the process of looking for a good luxury EV, and asked if I could test the iX3 while my X3 was being serviced. Brilliantly, they gave me it for the whole day.

This was a good thing in several ways.

First, test drives in Australia are generally only for 20 minutes or so. Having this car for the whole day gave me a chance to get a real feel for what it was like, and for what EVs are like more generally.

Second, because an iX3 is basically an X3 (and because the current G01 X3 isn't wildly different to my F25 X3), it meant that I wasn't bamboozled by new interfaces and new features in the way I was when driving the XC40, EQA and Model 3 - I could do a straight ICE-to-EV comparison between two very similar cars.

And third, it meant I didn't have to pay for a courtesy car or a rental for the day.

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So..... a few observations.

Compared to my X3, it was better in every way (except that it had a black interior and I don't like black interiors, but really this is not an EV thing).

The biggest thing was the silence. My car is very quiet for a diesel. But this....wow. If I put it in Sport Mode, there was the stupid and pointless Hans Zimmer Whoosh Sound (which I think I could have disabled in a sub-menu). I cannot see the point of this. But in Comfort Mode, there was nothing other than the rain and the wipers. And even the wipers were pretty quiet. No wind noise at 50mph (I didn't take it anywhere where I could go faster than that), and almost no tyre noise. Surprisingly little wheels-through-water noise. And no engine noise. Not only was it was quieter than my car; it was way quieter than the other EVs I've tested, especially the XC40, which was very noisy. They've really done a good job of deadening the sound.

The second-biggest thing was the responsiveness. It's not blisteringly fast like the Model 3 or even the XC40. But it's fast enough - 6.8 seconds to 100km/h / 60nph, and very quick up to 60km/h. But what I loved - what I'd seen in the XC40 and Model 3 and EQA but which was more apparent in such a like-for-like comparison - was how quickly it responded. With the combined delays of my car being a diesel, a turbo, and an automatic, when you prod the accelerator, it has a think for what feels like a second or more before it starts to accelerate, and a second can seem like a very long time when you're trying to pull onto a busy road. In this, there was no delay at all - touch the accelerator and off you go.

Range was not bad. The official WLTP range of the car is 460km. When I picked the car up, it was on 50%, and had 150km of range. But it's a demonstrator, so I assume a lot of people are flooring it to see how fast it is. And, while it was cool and rainy yesterday, it had been hot and sunny for the rest of the week, so they'd have been working the air-con hard. I drove around 70km yesterday - occasionally flooring it to show my parents-in-law what it was like, but generally sticking to my normal urban driving style - and range only dropped by 25km, to 125km.

Charging speeds are lower in some countries, but in Australia the iX3 comes with 150kW charging as standard (it's 100kW, I think, with an option to upgrade to 150kW, in some markets). The dealer said he charged it for 20 minutes after I dropped it off and added 125km. For my longer journeys, that is not fast enough, and it's nowhere near Hyundai/Genesis/Kia times. But for most of the time it would be plenty. It may just be that, if I buy an EV, I have to rent an ICE whenever I do the 2400km round trip to Broken Hill. But that's only four or five times a year. For Canberra (300km each way) and Melbourne (800km each way), the ix3's charging speed would be fine.

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I think, given this comparison, I am definitely sold on the idea of an EV for my next car, and I hope to be buying one (or at least signing up to buy one if there are production delays) within the next three or four months.

As for this car specifically..... It's certainly the best EV I've tested so far. The others have all had one or more fatal flaws: interior quality and design and user interface for the Model 3; size for the EQA (although the EQB should address this); cramped and weird cabin design in the EQC; noise levels and the stupid rear window for the XC40; just overall general horribleness for the i-Pace; and the impossibility of a test drive (and a two year waiting list) for the EV6 and Ioniq 5. And the Enyaq, Q4 e-tron, ID.4 and Mustang Mach-E aren't coming to Australia in the foreseeable future.

This car had none of those problems. It was, basically, an X3, and I like X3s. They're well-built and comfortable and easy to drive and roomy and just feel nice.

And while the G01 is an incremental improvement over the F25, I liked the improvements. The user interface was even better than in my car: they'd retained the control wheel for the infotainment, which is fast and easy to use, but added a touch screen and a lot of new functions. Voice activation was easy and convenient, and could understand my accent. (AI voice recognition systems often struggle with Northern English accents.) I loved the head-up display, which was clear and easy to use for speed, infotainment and navigation and massively reduced the level of distraction. The parking cameras are even better than in my current car. And the stereo was fantastic.

It's a little bit expensive: it starts at just under A$120,000, compared to just over A$80,000 for a Model 3 or an XC40, and just under A$80,000 for an EQA. But it's not bad compared to A$140,000+ for an i-Pace or A$125,000 for an EQC. And it's A$30,000 more than an ICE X3 30i. I think the price is just about justifiable: it's significantly better (for me) than those EVs and both better and cheaper to run than the ICE X3.

I think one of the bigger challenges on price is that the bigger, longer-ranged (but UGLY) iX is only A$140,000, so that's not a massive margin over the iX3. And I should be nice about the iX: I'm really in no position to criticise something for being big and ugly. The EQB and the Genesises might pose a strong pricing challenge too.

If there were nothing else coming out soon, I think I'd buy the iX3. But I am going to wait until the Australian launches of the iX, the EQB, and the two Genesises - the EV60 and Electric GV70. I'd like to test all of them before I decide. All should be available for testing in the next three months or so.

 

I didn't know they weren't selling it in North America. I'm quite surprised.

It's true that it is only available in RWD. To be honest, I would prefer AWD, for a couple of reasons. First, in Australia the roads get very slippery when wet. And second, I do drive on dirt tracks quite a lot: RWD is fine when they're dry, but not when they're wet.

But RWD wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me. I think it helps that this isn't one of those EVs with ridiculous amounts of power. So 2WD can handle what it's got.

 

I agree. On paper, I really didn't think it was anything special. I was test driving it more to rule it out.

But it surprised me. Yes, its range and performance are just OK by EV standards. But it was just..... nice. The power delivery was lovely; the features were well-thought-out and easy to use; the noise suppression was better than anything else I've been in; and the interior was really lovely. And the seats and the stereo were fantastic.

So it was just a nice place to be. And sitting in traffic on the school run, that's important.

 

When I test drove a Model 3 Performance, I loved how fast it was. In fact I spent much of the test drive doing 0-60 runs in an empty industrial estate while my wife and younger daughter laughed.

But I am not going to do that most days. If I had a Model 3 Performance or something else stupidly quick, I would show off the acceleration to each friend the first time they got in the car. And that would be it.

Most of the time, I'll be doing the school run, or driving to Canberra, or picking up antiques that my wife has bought online, or going to the supermarket. And for all of this, it's more important that it's comfortable and relaxing to drive and that it's a nice place to be. For me - and I know others have different opinions - the Model 3 was fast but it didn't meet those other requirements. I totally get why people like the Model 3: it's just not for me.

I have survived fine with my current X3 X Drive 20d, which does 0-60mph/100km/h in 8.2 seconds. And it really is more than fast enough. The acceleration of EVs is nice, but it doesn't need to be ridiculous. 6.8 secs for the iX3 is definitely all the acceleration I need in everyday use. 5.0 secs for the XC40 was cool, but it wasn't worth the trade-off in terms of road noise and rear-seat comfort.

 

Also to impress hot chicks in the diner car park, no doubt.

REMEMBER. THEY WILL BE IMPRESSED BY YOUR CHARM AND GOOD LOOKS.

 

This review seems to reflect what I said in post 6....

 

The car or the YouTube link?

 

Not if you're @tochatihu .

But I asked because some YouTube content is geoblocked for copyright and other reasons. For example, when people link to American Comedy Central YouTube clips, I often can't get into them here.

Yes. I just wish they'd make a car I want.