BMW iX1 vs Volvo XC40 Recharge: Battle of the small prestige electric SUVs

the premium mid-sized electric SUV class has just got even bigger with the arrival of the new BMW ix1 complete with a range of up to 270 miles from a 64.7 kilowatt hour usable battery prices start from 53 000 pounds and it has a naught to 62 mile per hour time of 5.6 seconds but how does it stack up against its Nemesis the Volvo xc40 the Volvo xc40 has been around for a few years now and it is one of the more popular cars in the premium electric SUV glass and it's not hard to see why given how good it looks now if you buy the Volvo right now you're going to pay about 52 000 pounds you get 875 kilowatt-hour usable battery which is good for a range of up to 270 miles so very close to the BMW provided you're looking at the dual motor model you can get this with a single motor but the dual motor that we have here is much closer to the ix1x drive 30 which is the only variant that you can get currently in the BMW ix1 range so for that you're looking at on the Volvo 402 brake horsepower and not to 62 time of 4.9 seconds it is fast this thing but the more important thing that you need to know right now is that if you order an xc40 you're going to get the model year 2023 which has some significant updates chiefly a larger 79 kilowatt hour usable battery as well as different cooling systems different electric motors all of which adds up to a potential range of up to 334 Miles by wltp standards a not in substantial difference to the 270 miles that you get in the BMW ix1 no kidding but even if Volvo seems to have just dropped BMW with the new improved range of its xc40 there is a lot to like in the ix-1 the 490 liter boot is a good size for a start with underfloor cable storage and rear seats that split into three parts to leave a flat extended load Bay rear passenger Space is really good in the ix-1 it's actually slightly better I think than the xc40 so this is sort of me sitting behind myself in this car and I've got loads of leg room plenty of Headroom despite the optional sunroof that we've got in this car so it's all very nice and light obviously you can get three people across this rear bench but BMW has got one of the seat belts that comes down out of the roof so if you do have a third person that's gonna obstruct your rear visibility which is already not great it has to be said still really comfy the floor's a bit high but that's the case for both of these cars you get your cup holders and you've also got two charging ports down there the dash in the ix1 is one of its real standout features the materials feel super classy the curved touch screen is standard across the range and would feel at home in a car of twice the price and the whole thing is really about the best interior in the class so you do get most of the equipment that I think you'll want on the BMW even if you go for the cheaper X line trim that we've got here and that is the most affordable of the two Trims on offer in the ix-1 and you get adaptive cruise control you get your leather heated seats that's all included but I think most people are going to want to add the Comfort pack because that brings electric seats Lumber adjustment and a few other bits that you're really going to want and that's a thousand pounds plus I think most people are going to want to wear the technology pack that brings a head-up display adaptive LED lights and keyless entry imagine having to pay 2 750 pound for the technology pack on a car that costs 52 000 pounds anyway and that would be particularly shocking for BMW were it not pretty much the case with Volvo as well but we'll talk more about that in a second anyway I think if you just go for the comfort pack on the X line in the ix1 then you're not getting a bad equipment list for the price in the standards of this class anyway and if you go for the optional sunroof that most people are going to want as well you're looking at basically 58 000 pounds for this car which is by the way exactly what this test car costs the touchscreen system is very good too with wireless carplay and Android auto inbuilt nav would charge a search function over-the-air update and all of the features that you expect I'd rate these as the best graphics in the class too but it is a shame that the screen can be slow to respond and some of the menus aren't that logical now the Volvos boot is a bit smaller than the ix1s at 419 liters but you do get some underfloor storage it's enough for a couple of cables down there and if you go for the mid-spec car at least then you also get some quite funky kind of you know load space useful boot tricks that Volvo is quite well known for I do think it's a slightly higher load lip than the ix1 so if you've got dogs and things that's something to consider yes it's a bit smaller the BMWs but you're still going to get you know a chunky buggy or a big dog in there and the Volvo has got a frunk or some storage space in the nose of the car which is great for additional cable storage if you need it there's plenty of rear seat space back here too if not quite as much Headroom as you get in the ix-1 I'm a real fan of Volvo's interior design I think if I was going to get a car manufacturer to design my living room I'd choose Volvo I just really like that scandi design feel and I think the xc40 is a good example of it although I have to say this particular spec of car is quite dark whereas I quite like the sort of lighter Interiors in Volvos but I do really like the finish on this trim it's all a bit different it all just feels nice and classy however I will say that the BMW really does feel quite a lot classier in terms of his perceived quality the material finish there's some Plastics around here that are starting to feel a bit cheaper this kind of thing I think to an extent the Volvo is starting to feel a little bit its age despite the fact that I would hardly say that BMW is very generously equipped I think it's also still better on equipment than the Volvo because if you go for the base core trim on the xc40 you don't get adaptive cruise control which is mad isn't it on a Volvo a heat pump or a reversing camera all of which are included on the standard BMW ix1 most people will go for the mid-range plus model as it brings adaptive cruise control and Volvo semi-autonomous drive system not to mention keyless entry electric front seat adjustment and more guess what that takes the xc40 dual motor up to 58 000 pounds now the screen in the Volvo to be honest it's not a patch on the BMWs in terms of the sheer sort of appearance of the screen and I would say probably really in terms of the screen response times and this kind of thing too the graphics are fine and you've got all the equipment you want and the Volvo has got the huge advantage that this has got Google built in it's all integrated with the cars systems so you get Google Maps on the screen and also you can do things like hey Google set destination for Leeds Town Center navigating to Leeds great good so I have to say this is definitely one of the best voice control systems that I've experienced and also what's lovely is that the car will give you a really accurate estimation of how much battery you've got left when you arrive at your destination and I've genuinely found it really really good it's pretty much spot on and also if you put in a really long journey like this so I've put leads in it's 245 miles away and then it just comes up with a little thing on here that says you're going to need to charge add charging stop and then it comes up with all different options on the route it's just a really easy interface to use it gives you all the information you need and I think in terms of an integrated Software System for giving you charging options actually within the car's inbuilt system I think this is the best out there the BMW ix1 loses the charging race as its peak 130 kilowatt rate is not a patch on the 200 kilowatt maximum charging rate that the updated xc40 will offer since the BMW battery is a bit smaller both of these will still charge from 10 to 80 in 30 minutes plug into a seven kilowatt home charger and you'll have a full battery in under 10 hours in the BMW and Under 12 hours in the Volvo so I thought we'd start with the BMW ix1 because that is the new car here it's really smooth and sophisticated this car is on 19-inch wheels and in terms of the ride Comfort I do think that it could be a little bit better it's mostly kind of high frequency stuff around town so it just picks up those kind of sharp edge potholes and also coarser surfaces where it's really scruffy and patched up it picks that up a little bit actual damper control over undulations is pretty good it's not only really fast so 308 break 5.7 to 62 like I've said so it's really fast if you want it to be it's not the sports SUV that you might be hoping it is given the reputation that the X3 and the X5 has built up for BMW I don't think that the X1 is really on that level yeah you can enjoy decent road you can stick it into sport you've got your drive modes down here change your settings up heavier steering and all of that and you get quite a nice sort of tight neat to turn into a corner you can really lean on it it's got masses of grip I've said this before but I don't understand why BMW insists on kind of really fat steering wheels in so many of its cars and I also really like the fact there's no haptic buttons on the steering wheel that's all nice and straightforward the throttle response is nice you can put it into a heavier brake regen mode via this gearbox here so you just literally Snick it down into B mode and that brings a much heavier brake regen but it's fairly one-dimensional for brake regen Rivals from Hyundai and Kia well they've got much better variable brake regen that you can control via paddles on the steering wheel which I think is the better option but nonetheless you can have that in B mode which is almost one pedal mode for around town and then you can just have it in standard D and that's really mild brake region which it does sense things in the head of the car and so it's an Adaptive system it can feel a bit odd if you've never experienced it before but it's generally quite easy to get used to and most people who spend a lot of time in EVS actually sort of find that they use all the time I think the thing with the ix-1 is that it just doesn't feel much different to a lot of the other stuff out there in this class now it's such a busy class you've got the Q4 e-tron Mercedes eqa Lexus is in this class now everybody's got a car in this class and yes electric cars by their very nature tend to be a bit more similar to drive but I do kind of expect a bit more of BMW the I4 is fabulous it's really fun to drive and I just think the ix-1 is missing that edge of a bit more fun I think one of the ways that BMW is trying to add a bit of character to the RX1 is with this system it's the latest operating system eight and that comes with various of these very fancy modes where you can change the graphics on the screens for art and you can also change the soundtrack you can go for expressive mode and then you get kind of weird little very distant trumpets if you want to you can also go for in this RX1 we've got a digital art option so you just get really kind of fancy art up here on the digital cluster as well as actually on the screen here in terms of the way it drives I think the BMW ix1 is absolutely fine if not actually really very nice but I do think it misses the mark a little bit in terms of being perhaps the sportier car that people might be hoping for in this class BMW ix1 managed 3.1 miles per kilowatt hour over our time with it which is not bad for such a powerful and fairly heavy SUV that means a range of 200 miles in Fairly varied conditions and Mild 15 degree temperatures we'd expect a worst case winter range scenario of around 160 to 180 miles or a best case summer range of about 250 miles so the Volvo xc40 now this is available with a single motor and a dual motor version this thing not 62 4.9 seconds it is really really fast it's got a massive punch of acceleration that to be honest you don't really expect from a family SUV that in every other aspect feels like it's set up to be comfortable refined and just a bit chilled and then you just get this ridiculous acceleration but we live in a Tesla era and I think they've got something to answer for in that all manufacturers now seem to think that we should prove that electric motors can very easily hand out masses of horsepower hundreds and hundreds of horsepower and therefore everything now needs to do not to 62 in about two seconds or something insane it's really unnecessary and I personally like the single motor options in this class for being a bit longer range bit more efficient those are the priorities I think most people actually in the long run will have and should have but it's got masses of grip I really like the steering in the Volvo I like the steering wheel as well much Slimmer than in the BMW and there's a sort of really nice kind of oily progression of weight to the Volvo steering as you go into a corner it's really nicely balanced body control is good too everything about this car just feels quite organic actually I like that it's not a terribly Fun sports SUV so actually neither of these are but I think on a good road both of them are satisfying and I think actually probably the Volvo is if anything slightly better than the BMW surprisingly if you want to increase the brake region in the Volvo you have to go through the settings and it's a right path as well so you have to go right the way down into this Char driving menu in here and then you have to scroll down it's just a bit crazy really I don't know why they wouldn't make it easier to access the you know dynamic adaptive stuff including the one pedal drive that you might want to change should all be much easier to access anyway once you've found it in the menu then you can change your steering weight and also your one pedal drive and then it's a really heavy brake region so the car will come to a complete holes all by itself around town you don't need to hit the brake pedal if you don't want to some people like that some people don't it all feels very nice you feel nice and upright there's a proper SUV feel to it I think there's a bit more of a hatchback feel to the x1's driving position I really like it it's just a really smart neat sort of well thought out package I think the xc40 of course we haven't got the updated Volvo with its more efficient powertrain and bigger battery here but we still managed to get three miles per kilowatt hour which is good for a range of 220 miles expect a worst case scenario of around about 180 to 190 miles or in the summer that will creep up to around about 270 or more it's really hard to pick one of these cars as the best because they both share many of the same strengths but we're at my money well the efficiency The Styling and the slightly better driving Dynamics in the Volvo would certainly swing it in the xc40s favor head to cargurus.cody UK for a whole host of fantastic used cars including loads of electric options and please do like the video subscribe to the CarGurus UK YouTube channel and turn on your notifications so you don't miss any of our videos [Applause] foreign [Music]

Channel: CarGurus UK

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Id: 15rFb3PXnQk

Length: 13min 58sec (838 seconds)

Published: Thu May 25 2023