One of the more interesting cars in BMW’s pipeline is surprisingly the iX2. The BMW iX2 will be the electric version of the second-generation X2 crossover. That isn’t surprising. What is surprising is how interested we are to see it. Why are we surprised by our interest? It’s because the first-gen BMW X2 was a yawn. It was strange looking, completely impractical, overpriced, and overall entirely uninteresting. BMW tried to get customers to care by giving it odd colors and a youth-oriented marketing campaign but it did little good. Now, though, the second-gen BMW X2 actually looks good from what we’ve seen so far and there’s going to be an electric version that is said to begin production sometime this year.
The BMW iX2 will be built at the same Regensburg, Germany plant as the iX1. According to Carsten Regent, head of the Regensburg plant, “we will continue to shape the transformation as a Regensburg plant and manufacture the all-electric BMW iX2 here at the location from the end of the year.”
We already knew the iX2 would be revealed this year but we didn’t know it would reach production this year until now. Regent didn’t give an exact date when the BMW iX2 will begin production, just that it will happen sometime this year. If we were to venture a guess, it likely won’t hit production until the second half of the year at the earliest, likely not until Q4. Which means it won’t hit dealerships until 2024. There’s no word on which markets the iX2 will be sold, so there’s still some hope that it might come to the U.S. market. We lost out on both the iX1 and iX3, so we’re hoping we get at least one entry-level BMW EV, as the iX2 will likely undercut the i4 in terms of price. The iX2 also makes more sense for the U.S., as American customers are suckers for sporty looking crossovers.
When the BMW iX2 debuts, it will almost certainly launch with only one model, the iX2 xDrive30. So it will pack the same powertrain as the iX1, which is a dual-motor powertrain with 308 horsepower and 364 lb-ft of torque. That powertrain will get its EV juice from a 64.7 kWh battery pack, which should give it around 230-250 miles of range. Admittedly, one of the reasons BMW might withhold it from the U.S. market is its range, as we’re quite used to bigger ranges in the ‘States. Still, as a comfy, likely stylish, all-electric daily runabout, it should do quite fine. I’m hoping it comes here next year.
[Source: BimmerToday] [Top render: motor.es]
