The snow is finally melting, and though it's been an uneven process, spring is starting to do its thing in upstate New York. As such, we're looking forward to another summer of road-tripping and exploring in the 2024 BMW iX that has been a part of our family for nearly 18 months.
Over that year and a half, we've covered 16,523 miles through two winters with a total average efficiency of 3.0 mi/kWh. That tracks favorably compared to the thing's official EPA rating of 2.9 mi/kWh, though naturally, it slipped a fair bit in the coldest of temperatures. Our low so far is 2.3 mi/kWh when the ambient air was eight degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-17 C.)
But that didn't stop us from getting out there over the winter, a process made a little more adventurous lately thanks to an unfortunate habit our iX picked up a few software updates ago.
'Time Slot Mode'
Like most EVs, the iX can be set to start charging immediately when you plug it in, and you can, of course, set a maximum charge percentage to keep from topping out all 105.2 kWh every time. (We usually have ours set at 90% to preserve the battery long-term.)
The iX can also be set for scheduled charging, something BMW calls "time slot mode," so it won't start pulling down the juice until a set time. This is great if you have a metered plan with your utility provider, serving you cheaper rates overnight.
The problem is, we've not enabled this mode in the iX or in the My BMW app, yet our SUV keeps falling back to a delayed start to charging of 10 pm. We keep disabling this feature and yet it keeps coming back, zombie-like, catching us by surprise. We plug the car in, and it says it's charging.
Later, we then discover it didn't actually start charging until the evening, or sometimes not at all, leaving us with insufficient range the following morning. This is, as you might guess, not ideal.
Short Circuit
The problem caught me out once in January. The car was plugged in the night before but still had barely half a charge the following morning, leaving me firing up my Subaru for a run up to Vermont. I would have much rather taken the iX. A few weeks later, the same thing surprised my wife, who had a morning event way up north in the Adirondack Park.
It was a 320-mile round trip in the middle of winter, which normally would have necessitated one quick charging stop along the way. Instead, she had to make an emergency stop at a charger on the way up, grabbing as many electrons as she could without being late for her meetings, then had to charge up in time to make it back, too.
That's obviously not an ideal situation, but in some ways, it actually boosted our confidence in the car. So well, in fact, that despite the charging glitch, my wife had nothing but praise for the iX at the end of the day.
Silver Linings
The first positive note was the iX's remaining range estimation. I've tested plenty of EVs over the years that leave you running some advanced calculus as you're driving, mentally plotting a curve of range degradation in a desperate attempt to determine whether you'll make it to your destination.
As I've noted previously in these updates, the iX's range estimation on the dash is spot-on, rarely straying by more than a few percent even when the drive is hundreds of miles long. That was the first saving grace of this potentially terrible trip.
"This is the only car I've driven where the range prediction actually reduces my range anxiety," my wife said. "If any other car had told me I'd get somewhere with six percent left, I'd have been freaking out the whole way."
Getting accurate range estimates requires using the car's integrated navigation, and thankfully, BMW's is quite good. I still use Google Maps in Android Auto most of the time because it's usually figured out where I want to go as soon as I get in the car, meaning I can just tap and go.
However, for longer trips, I defer to the nav experience within iDrive, and it rarely disappoints. I generally have a wide overhead view of the route on the central infotainment screen, a closer view of the map in the gauge cluster behind the steering wheel, and then the HUD configured to give me augmented-reality arrows.
Yes, that's navigational overkill, but when I'm dealing with tricky routing somewhere with big consequences for a wrong turn, like getting out of Newark International Airport during rush hour, it's awfully nice.
Plug and Pray
The other factor that helped ease the potential stress of the day was easy charging. By now, we should be well and truly into an age where Plug and Charge just works. Sadly, it still feels like a surprise when it does.
I'm glad to say I was pleasantly surprised when my wife checked in from the charging station. The iX comes with two years of free 30-minute sessions with Electrify America, but we've struggled in the past to get those sessions to start automatically. So, it was with a little trepidation that my wife pulled into the EVolve NY charger in North Hudson, operated by Electrify America, which features nine 350 kW stalls.
I was on standby to help troubleshoot or, worst case, find another location. Blissfully, I didn't have to. "I just plugged in and it recognized my car and said I have free charging," my wife texted me. "That's the way these should all work."
Indeed it is, and hopefully, that's how it will increasingly be going forward.
That charging session hit 169 kW, not too far off from the iX's official max charge rate of 195 kW. The curve was flat enough to deliver just over 70 kWh in 28 minutes, and performance that's was more than solid given it was a chilly day.
Fool Me Twice
I hate that we have to do this, but we've since learned to bring up the My BMW app and make sure charging has actually started if we have somewhere to go the following day. Indeed, as I write this, just last night the car decided to flip back to time slot mode again on its own accord.
We're not the only ones seeing this. Plenty more iX owners are reporting that time slot mode isn't working right for them, either. But I noticed the car has a new software update pending, so with any luck, it'll fix what's become our biggest annoyance with the SUV.
Still, sometimes frustrating situations like that help make you appreciate just how good you have it in other areas.
Tim Stevens is a veteran editor, analyst, and expert in the tech and automotive industries. He helmed CNET's automotive coverage for nine years and acted as Vice President of Content. Prior to that, Tim served as Editor-in-Chief at Engadget and even led a previous life as an Enterprise Software Architect. Follow Tim on X at @tim_stevens and catch his Substack.
