BMW’s iX3 may be the brand’s most important vehicle this year
Mark Richardson
Cobourg, ont.
Special to The Globe and Mail
Published Yesterday
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The kidney grilles are not grilles at all but the look is still there and the shape is getting smaller after they kept growing bigger on previous models.
Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
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The iX3 compact, all-electric SUV is perhaps BMW’s most important new vehicle for 2026, and we’ve written about it extensively. We reported on its advanced powertrain and technology, its recycled materials and its back-to-its-roots design. We told you about it capturing the prestigious World Car of the Year award, and even took it for a blast around a test track in Spain last year.
The only thing we didn’t do is what really matters: drive it in Canada – in the rain, on roads with potholes and bumps, when all you want to do is get where you’re going. This review will put that right.
Let’s get the range question out of the way first, because that’s often the first concern of potential buyers. BMW claims the iX3 has a maximum possible range of 698 kilometres – rated by Natural Resources Canada – and that might be true, but the best I saw was an estimate of 591 kilometres from a full charge. That was based on my driving and with the electronic mode set to Efficient; move it to Sport or Silent and the range dropped to 548 kilometres. That’s impressive, but so it should be for an enormous 108-kilowatt-hour battery that can probably power a shopping mall.
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The front seats and dash of the iX3. The wide, thin projector screen below the window works well to keep eyes on the road.
Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
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The all-electric 2026 BMW iX3 was named World Car of the Year at this year’s New York International Auto Show.
Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
To its credit, the car’s estimated range display showed me it could be stretched to 663 kilometres – presumably if I were to shuffle around the city all day instead of the highway use the vehicle’s computer likely expected given my recent driving, when the temperature was a comfortable 22C. It also showed a minimum range of 276 kilometres, good for 69 pace-setting laps of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, if I were so inclined.
The iX3 is also one of the fastest-charging electric vehicles on the market, with an 800-volt architecture that accommodates 400-kilowatt DC charging. This is future-proofing – there are no 400-kilowatt public chargers in Canada, though Tesla has said it will introduce some of its next-generation V4 500-kilowatt superchargers soon, perhaps even later this year. When that happens, BMW says the iX3 should be able to charge from 10 to 80 per cent in 21 minutes.
This is also owing to the newly designed batteries having an energy density 20 per cent greater than the previous batteries, though when I tried plugging the SUV into my paltry 110-volt garage socket to find an extra few kilowatts overnight, the BMW would not charge. “Grid power too low,” it told me. “Use another charging station or domestic outlet.” I’ve never seen that before. So much for plugging in at a friend’s cottage for an extra day if you are stranded.
