BMW has announced the upgraded predictive heat management technology introduced last year on the i7 xDrive60 will soon trickle down to the iX. Installed on the electric SUVs manufactured from March 2023 will be a new functionality allowing owners to manually initiate pre-warming of the battery. Much like in the luxury sedan, it works when the navigation system’s route guidance is not active.
Warming the battery before making a stop at a charging station will pay dividends in terms of charging speed, especially when juicing up the battery from a DC station. The waste heat from the electric motors is put to good use to adjust the battery’s temperature. BMW says the new functionality will be available for all three iX versions (xDrive40, xDrive50, M60) and both battery packs (76.6 kWh and 111.5 kWh).
In related news, the standard Driving Assistant will also come bundled with Trailer Assistant with the iX vehicles built from March 2023. As its name suggests, the feature enables the electric SUV to perform the necessary steering movements while reversing with a trailer coupled to the vehicle. As previously reported, remote parking is also coming this spring, allowing owners to maneuver the vehicles from the outside by using an app.
If a recent report is to be believed, more substantial changes are planned for 2025 when BMW allegedly intends to give the iX a Life Cycle Impulse. Aside from design tweaks, upgrades to the batteries and electric motors are apparently coming. It remains to be seen whether the iDrive 8.5 debuting this summer on the new 5 Series G60 will arrive with the LCI or sooner.
The revised infotainment will require new hardware, so it won’t be possible to make the switch through an over-the-air update. It’ll be a similar story with the iDrive 9 coming to compact cars later this year, starting with the X1 in the UK.
Source: BMW
