This new electric car is as close to perfect as you can get right now

This is the new BMW iX3, and it’s a car which has a lot on its shoulders. It’s the first model to use the brand’s “Neue Klasse” collection of parts, which will essentially shape every new BMW electric car for the foreseeable future.

The Neue Klasse platform comprises new motor and battery tech, a revolutionary infotainment system and clean-sheet styling which looks nothing like any BMW you’ve seen before.

To find out how it stacks up against alternatives like the Audi Q6 e-tron and the Polestar 3, I headed out to Spain to give it a thorough test. We started in Sotogrande in the south, heading up towards Malaga where we took the iX3 for a few laps around the Ascari racetrack to test out the handling before turning around and heading back to base.

That’s a journey of around 155 miles taking in a mixture of towns, motorways and country roads, as well as a pretty fast racetrack.

Driving the BMW iX3 – it almost defies physics

The driving experience is one of the most important parts of any BMW, because it needs to be both comfortable and fun. That’s a hard combination in a car weighing well over two tonnes, but somehow BMW has managed it.

Let’s start with comfort. As I headed out onto the motorway it was immediately apparent that this car is whisper-quiet at speed. You get hardly any wind or road noise, and the suspension is smooth and subtle over any imperfections.

Pulling off the motorway and onto a twisty road, this is where the iX3 goes from great to outstanding. Some very clever computer wizardry and an excellent suspension setup make this car feel agile and easy to place through tight bends, and yet it’s still supremely comfortable over bumps. It drives like a car which is much lighter than it is.

 

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Around town the steering is light and it soaks up potholes and speed bumps, and you can even park the car remotely from your phone in tight spaces. There is quite an annoying A pillar blind spot which I had to keep peering around, but this is pretty much my only complaint about the way it drives though.

BMW iX3 on the track – don’t knock it until you try it

Arriving at Ascari I was seriously impressed with the way the iX3 drives on the road, but I was still skeptical about its performance on track. Surely a heavy electric SUV can’t put a smile on your face here, right?

Well actually, yes it can. I’m not going to pretend that this thing drives like a sports car, because that would be disingenuous. But as you start pushing the iX3 harder around the track it starts to prove just how capable it is.

You get tons of grip through the bends, and you have to be pushing it really hard before the front will start to wash wide. It remains totally flat through the corners, and the steering is perfectly weighted and responsive.

Most people buying an iX3 will never drive it this hard, but it’s nice to know that it’ll be absolutely fine on a twisty British B road.

BMW iX3 – what’s the range like?

The iX3’s 108kWh battery is supposed to deliver 470 miles of range with the 21-inch alloy wheels fitted to my test car. Go for the 20-inch rims and this goes up to 500 miles.

That makes it the longest-range electric car on sale in the UK, so I was keen to put this to the test in the real world. I reset the trip computer before setting off, and keep in mind that it was a different car I thrashed around the track so that won’t affect the efficiency.

Over 155 miles of mixed driving with the climate control set at my liking, I averaged 3.3 miles per kWh. That equates to a real-world range of 356 miles, 114 miles short of the claimed figure.

In fairness that’s around 76% of the claimed figure, which is about what I’d expect of most electric cars. I’d still like to have seen 400 miles from it though, after all we got 438 miles of real-world range out of the Polestar 3 on a recent range test.

BMW iX3 verdict – It’s fantastic

I’ve driven a lot of electric cars which promise to feel sporty fun, but most of them ultimately disappoint. The only exception until now was the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N.

But the iX3 is a true marvel in the way it drives. The lightweight feeling not only makes it good fun on a twisty road, it makes it insanely comfortable. In terms of driving, no electric SUV comes close.

And there’s more to the iX3 than the way it drives – it also has a fantastic interior and a really clever infotainment setup. To find out more about this, as well as the practicality and running costs, you can check out my full, in-depth review.