- Refreshed iX electric crossover gets 10% more efficient
- 2026 iX will have three new model designations
- BMW refined the suspension tuning
If you’ve been following EVs, then BMW’s Neue Klasse (noo-ay class-eh) should sound familiar. Even though the “new class” sounds as French as it does German to this anglophone, BMW uses it to classify its generation of electric vehicles that launches with the iX3 crossover later this year, followed by an iteration of the 3-Series sedan.
Meanwhile, the refreshed 2026 BMW iX makes a half-step to this new class of EVs. Launched in 2022, BMW’s electric crossover arrives with significant improvements to its battery packs, propulsion systems, and other internals, though much of what we know we can’t say until late January for its global reveal.
In a brief drive outside of BMW’s Spartanburg, South Carolina, factory, the new iX rode with more comfort and seemed to have a greater range between its firm sport and soft comfort settings. There appeared to be changes to its polarizing exterior design that bridged the quirky eco-style of the discontinued i3 hatch with some of the more bold if not brash styling elements of BMW’s crossover SUVs.
It was covered in camo and the interior dash and panels were covered in the kind of thin carpet you’d find in a cargo floor. Our impressions were limited to a 15-minute test drive, and many of the mechanical details are in another kind of camouflage from BMW. Here’s what we know and what’s been leaked, and what we might expect for this iteration of the iX.
Sign up for Newsletter
Spartanburg is BMW’s largest factory in the world, and while it makes the X3 and nearly every larger crossover SUV that BMW ships to the world, the iX will continue to be made in Plant Dingolfing, in Lower Bavaria, Germany.
The 2026 iX arrives in the second quarter of 2025 with a reported three models to choose from, each representing a different performance level, in the BMW way.
2026 BMW iX battery and motor unit improvements
All three models will have dual-motor all-wheel drive, but the new base model will be the iX xDrive45, instead of the 40, according to a leaked Bimmerpost cited by several automotive outlets. Based on EPA listings, the entry point to the 2025 BMW iX will be the xDrive40 that hasn’t been offered in the U.S. yet; it has a 71-kwh battery pack (usable) and a max range of 219 miles, according to the EPA.
Expect a larger pack and increased range at the entry point of the 2026 iX xDrive45.
Sign up for Newsletter
It’s rumored that this year’s iX xDrive50 morphs into the iX xDrive60 in 2026, and this year’s M60 becomes the M70 in 2026. It’s expected to have a larger battery pack than the existing 105.2-kwh battery pack, but it will probably stick with the prismatic cells instead of switching over to more energy-dense cylindrical cells that will underpin the Neue Klasse generation of electric vehicles. Consider this the fifth-and-a-half—not sixth—generation of BMW’s EV battery and propulsion system.
Neue Klasse vehicles will utilize an 800-volt architecture, but the iX will keep its 400-volt architecture, albeit with efficiency improvements to increase charging times. How much we don’t know. On a DC fast-charger maxing out at 195 kw, the 2025 BMW iX could charge from 10-80% in 40 minutes.
Like the Neue Klasse vehicles, however, the 2026 BMW iX may use silicon anodes instead of graphite in the cells, resulting in greater energy density and faster charging speeds. More density means more energy stored, so it should translate to greater range, though that hasn’t been confirmed by BMW and likely won’t be certified by the EPA until early next year.
Other improvements to boost range include new “friction-optimized” wheel bearings, according to BMW, and more efficient headlights that consume less energy. New inverter technology increases the drive power energy for more burst, and the transfer of energy from the battery to the motor is more dense and efficient.
Sign up for Newsletter
2026 BMW iX estimated with 10% more efficiency
The 2025 iX xDrive50 has an EPA-rated range of 309 miles when equipped with 20-inch wheels. BMW cited a 10% increase in efficiency for the new model, so that could boost the range to 340 miles for the 2026 BMW xDrive60, when equipped with the most fuel-efficient wheels wrapped in low-rolling resistance tires.
The 2025 M60 tops out at 285 miles, while the 2026 M70 could get somewhere in the 310- to 315-mile range, based on my crude calculation. It’s much harder to speculate on the xDrive45 because BMW wouldn’t release the battery size.
How the 2026 BMW iX drives
We don’t know if the M70 will improve on the 2025 M60’s 610-hp, 749 lb-ft of torque output and 0-60 mph time of 3.6 second, or if the iX xDrive60 will improve on the 2025 xDrive50’s 516 hp, 564 lb-ft and its 0-60 mph time of 4.4 seconds.
In my brief drive, the iX xDrive60 had gobs of power off the line, and slight toe-taps opened up bursts of acceleration at speed. It was quick enough to slap a grin on my face, but not so stark as to upset unsuspecting passengers. Eco mode predictably mushed the throttle response. Sport mode mostly deactivated the stability control system to allow for some kind of drifting, I was told, but I didn’t have the space or lack of passengers to test it. The B mode in the shifter remains for max regenerative braking that brings the iX nearly to a stop without the brake pedal. The brakes remain the same.
The 2024 iX xDrive50 I tested last year had wobbly handling and prodigious weight, making it something of an outlier in BMW’s electroverse, but BMW has worked to improve that across the iX range. I tested the iX xDrive60 with the steel-spring suspension. BMW retuned the hydraulic dampers for a calmer ride while cruising, and on the stretch of state highway I tested at about 70 mph, it made good on that promise. With the exception of the expected tire noise endemic to EVs, it was notably quiet in the cabin, even with the prototype seemingly unfinished.
The lack of steering feel in Sport mode was one of our editor’s complaints about the 2023 BMW iX. Improvements to the steering have also been made, with a more pronounced feeling between sport and comfort settings, according to BMW, but I didn’t have enough space to test that out.
The M70, like the M60 before it, will likely have a two-axle air suspension with adaptive dampers. It appears that the iron butterfly grille—one of the gaudiest takes on the kidney grille this side of the i4 electric sedan—carries over, as does the alleged self-healing grille that erases or at least blends in scratches.
New this year is an M Sport package, as requested by customers. The cosmetic Sport package on the 2025 xDrive50 might not have had enough M. It comes with blue brake calipers, whereas the M Sport Package Pro standard on the M70 gets red calipers. Maybe it’ll make M posers see red.
On the inside, the package means new M power seats with more side bolstering and a longer seat bottom by nearly two inches. Leather upholstery remains an option with the M Sport Package, but it comes with a leather-wrapped steering wheel, M pedals, and M badging.
Standard features across the lineup include adaptive cruise control up to 85 mph, welcome lighting, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel, as well as a Harman Kardon sound system.
Options include a glass roof, automatic soft-close doors, and the latest in BMW’s iDrive operating system integrated into a digital instrument cluster and touchscreen of undisclosed size. Driver-assist options include a limited hands-free driving system with automatic lane changes and a remote parking system.
The 2026 iX adds some newness to this class of BMW electric vehicle, but what future will it hold in the Neue Klasse school? We’ll find out more late in January.
BMW paid for airfare and lodging for Green Car Reports to attend its brand overview.