Our Long-Term BMW iX Is a Refreshingly Carefree EV

• We've put nearly 20,000 miles on our long-term 2022 BMW iX xDrive50.
• In that time, it's been one of the most reliable and enjoyable electric cars in our long-term fleet.
• At $102,070 as tested, our iX definitely isn't cheap.

If you regularly keep up with Edmunds' long-term test fleet, you'll know that our recent experiences with electric cars have been, uh, problematic. There's our brand-new Fisker Ocean, which still doesn't have some of the features we paid for. Or our Chevy Blazer EV, which feels like it's spent more time at the dealer than it has at our office. (Oh, and you still can't go buy one right now, so there's that.) Perhaps you've read about the little quibbles with our Rivian R1T Launch Edition. And don't even get me started on our Lucid Air Grand Touring and Tesla Model Y.

But there's another EV in our long-term fleet that we haven't talked much about, largely because living with it has been so easy-peasy-ultra-breezy: the BMW iX. We're nearing the 20,000-mile mark with our 2022 iX xDrive50, and generally speaking, life's been good. Of course, we'd expect nothing less from a car that costs $102,070 as-tested. But we also know lots of money doesn't always guarantee quality (looking at you, Lucid).

"We've so regularly had issues with our other EVs, the iX has really flown under the radar (in a good way)," says Senior News Editor Nick Yekikian. "OK, yes, we got one flat tire. But when you think about how many times we've been stranded, locked out of or simply irritated by the other EVs in our garage, a flat tire is no hardship. The iX has been so rock solid, so trouble-free and so wonderful to get in and drive that there's a weekly fight over who gets the keys."

"The BMW iX is my favorite long-termer in our current fleet," writes Director of Vehicle Testing Jonathan Elfalan. "As a family of four with two young kids, it really checks all the boxes for an all-in-one vehicle. It's quiet, rides incredibly well, has loads of passenger and cargo space and is fast enough to satisfy your g-craving every once in a while. Not to mention the range on this means I can go days without worrying about charging, yet it supports nearly 200 kW of DC fast-charge power, so you can top off quickly when you need it."

Indeed, our iX's range has been excellent. "I personally drove it 298 miles before stopping to charge, with an indicated 23 miles left to go," notes Brent Romans, Edmunds' Senior Manager of Written Content. "Plus, a majority of those miles were on the highway, which is rarely kind to EV range."

The EPA rates the 2022 BMW iX xDrive50 as having 315 miles of range when equipped with 22-inch wheels like ours. And yet, when we put a different iX xDrive50 through our standardized Edmunds EV Range Test, we actually saw 377 miles. That's awesome. If only America's public charging infrastructure was as impressive.

After nearly 20,000 miles of hard use, the iX's interior still looks and feels great. I will say that the action of opening and closing the doors – which includes the windows having to roll down slightly due to the frameless design – is a bit clunkier than I'd expect. But no one else on the team has commented on this issue. Many staffers continue to be wowed by our iX's two-tone upholstery, rose gold trim and glass controls.

News Manager Cameron Rogers chimes in: "My first thought when stepping into the iX's cabin for the first time: 'Oh wow, BMW is really going for it these days, aren't they?' After many years of producing interiors that are fairly similar across the lineup, BMW clearly found influence in the unique designs of the departed i3 and i8 when it was dreaming up the iX. Its precursors embraced odd shapes, textures and materials that not only stood apart from the other cookie-cutter Bimmers but also the automotive world at large. The iX wholeheartedly continues with that tradition."

As for maintenance, we've only had to deal with one problem other than the aforementioned flat tire: a recall.

"The recall was for a software update that can prevent the monitoring of the high-voltage battery charging process from failing and, in turn, avoid sudden loss of power or stalling," Editorial Assistant Albert Hernandez notes. "This update required us to take our iX to a service center where it stayed overnight. The next day BMW ordered us an Uber, and we picked up our car. There was no cost to us. The whole process was short and smooth."

And, well, that's the gist of it: Living with the iX has been super-duper smooth. We're nearing the home stretch of life with the iX now, and assuming nothing catastrophic happens in the coming weeks (I'm not jinxing it, I swear), this could prove to be our least-eventful EV long-term test yet – in a good way.

Edmunds says

We're definitely going to miss this long-term tester when it's gone.