BMW iX price comes much higher than expected at more than $80,000

BMW has confirmed that the BMW iX, its new electric SUV, is going to start at over $80,000 in the US, which is much higher than originally expected.

For years, BMW has been hyping the release of the iNEXT, its next-generation electric vehicle.

BMW’s head of sales and marketing, Ian Robertson, previously shared doubts about Tesla’s ability to produce Model 3 in volume at $35,000, and in the process, he said that the iNext would be the real competitor in the segment.

Last year, BMW announced that the iNEXT electric SUV is becoming the “BMW iX.”

The vehicle is everything but a Tesla Model 3 competitor.

It’s an SUV equipped with a battery pack with “a gross energy content of more than 100 kWh” enabling  “more than 300 miles based on the EPA standard.”

With those specs, it was becoming clear that the BMW iX would be nowhere near the price range of the Model 3.

Now, BMW has confirmed a rough pricing estimate for the iX in the US and said that it will start in the mid-$80,000 range:

“US pricing will be announced closer to market launch but the iX is expected to have an MSRP starting in the mid $80’s.”

That’s more than twice the starting price of a Model 3 and closer to a Model X, which is also a closer vehicle in terms of size and functionality.

BMW said that the US market launch is expected in “early 2022 with pre-ordering to begin in June 2021.”

During the unveiling last year, the German automaker also said that the electric SUV is going to be powered by two electric motors with a total 370 kW/500 hp power capacity resulting in a 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration in under 5.0 seconds.

In terms of charging capacity, BMW iX is going to be able to DC fast charge at up to 200 kW, and the automaker believes that it will be able to charge from 10 to 80% state of charge in under 40 minutes.

Electrek’s Take

I don’t know what happened between Robertson’s comment and now, but it looks like the BMW iX program changed radically.

In a way, it does make sense.

Like Tesla, which started with more expensive vehicles like Model S and Model X, BMW is starting at the higher end of the market with its next-generation electric vehicles.

Hopefully, the BMW i4 is going to achieve a lower price point.