A Perfect Day Trip With The Electric BMW iX
It’s hard to find a better option than the BMW iX xDrive40 to hit the open road with and explore new places. With Oslo as a base and excellent electric vehicle, we couldn’t think of a better way to explore Norway. The only way to make a road trip to explore new places better is one without gasoline. Of course, the luxurious and comfortable BMW iX doesn’t leave much to desire.
The coastline of Norway and its historic fishing villages is one of our favorite destinations in the world. Nature never feels far away, and with its robust EV infrastructure, Norway offers an endless amount of sustainable adventures.
The BMW iX
BMW’s brand new BMW iX is a head turner and their first electric SAV built from the ground up, perfect for road trips. It’s easy to understand the BMW iX xDRive40 road trip strengths with its impressive range (up to 425 km), a plethora of safety features, incredible performance, and an interior that is as comfortable as a living room.
The minimalist interior of the BMW iX is gorgeous and offers everything passengers could need. Its impressive feature set provides passengers with a tremendous wealth of tools for comfort and functionality. Spaciousness is the first thing you’ll notice with its roomy interior and glass roof.
Even the climate control offers passengers an effortlessly comfortable experience with sleek air vents, four-zone climate control, and radiant heat panels hidden throughout the interior. Everything about the vehicle feels designed for an excellent road trip.
Features We Love For A Road Trip
Performance
With any road trip vehicle, performance is naturally the most crucial characteristic. The BMW iX is a dream to drive for a multitude of reasons. You come to expect many features from BMW, such as excellent steering, suspension, and safety. It also packs a heck of a punch in horsepower, torque, four-wheel drive, and impressive acceleration.
However, what sets the BMW iX apart are the advantages that come from its innovative EV build. Regenerative braking is a fantastic feature with real-world benefits and allows for one-pedal driving. The vehicle’s regenerative braking activates and charges the batteries and decelerates the car upon releasing the accelerator.
Sensors along the car’s exterior provide excellent safety tools like Active Cruise Control and Brake Activation. When in cruise control, the vehicle can monitor the speed of vehicles in front and maintain a safe distance through braking and deceleration. Even if the Active Cruise Control is not engaged, should a car ahead brake abruptly, the vehicle can engage the brakes if needed.
Spacious Interior
A minimalist interior in an electric car makes for an incredibly spacious ride. There’s no transmission, and since the batteries are in the chassis, it leaves a considerable platform for passengers.
It all feels roomier in the BMW iX due to the glass roof that can switch to privacy mode with the touch of a button. You can do a lot with a simple button push, as even the rear seats drop with a button that opens a wealth of space for extra gear.
Impressive Audio
Every good road trip needs a soundtrack. Sound performance in the vehicle is incredible, thanks to the Bowers & Wilkens Diamond Surround Sound System with a whopping 30 speakers. Hidden speakers throughout the car, including the 4D tactile bass within the car seats, make for an immersive experience.
The interior of the BMW iX has superb soundproofing for a tranquil ride. As the electric engines produce almost no sound, the vehicle plays a subtle designed “engine” sound when you quickly accelerate.
Range
For our test, we had the BMW iX xDrive40, which has a good range of 372-425km. While the xDrive50 offers an even more impressive range of 550-630km. Of course, the range, just like gas mileage, depends on driving style. It’s all more than enough to never think about the charge in your daily driving and many day trip options on a single charge.
Charging
With High Power Charging and DC fast charging, the vehicle can recharge from 10 percent to 80 percent in 35 minutes (BMW iX xDrive 40). BMW has partnered with EVgo for easy access to a public charging station network, but it can also charge on other networks.
With the 5G connectivity, it’s possible to monitor the vehicle’s charging status while you’re grabbing a coffee, running errands, or exploring your next stop. From the MyBMW App, you can also find the car’s location and check on the vehicle remotely through its cameras.
Control System
It’d be impossible not to mention the impressive suite of tools on the huge customizable curved dashboard display. The display stands out against the minimal interior and suede dashboard, and it’s little wonder why the interior has received universal praise.
It’s functional, too, as the display has a suite of tools such as climate control, Apple Car Play, drive performance settings, navigation, and a voice-activated assistant. For maneuvering the vehicle into tight spots, drives can take advantage of the surround-view cameras. A full 360 interactive model shows the car about its surroundings through the display.
Navigation
The navigation is the most valuable and impressive of all the tools the display offers. We love the heads-up display that offers the driver navigation directions on the windshield. Thanks to 5G and voice activation, it allows the driver to plan routes effortlessly. That includes one that will have stops for charging.
It’s a robust intelligent navigation system that’s functional in everyday life. Machine learning can learn the daily commute and provide warnings or alternative route selection in heavy traffic or delays.
Norway Road Trip
Norway has no shortage of scenic routes thanks to its sweeping fjords, craggy coastline, historic fishing villages, and forested interior. It’s a destination that begs to be explored by car. It’s hard to think of a better way to explore the country than by road.
That decision is easy now because we can do so with electric vehicles. On our last trip in Norway in the winter, we made it a point to take public transportation, hike between destinations, and even use dog sleds as a way to reduce our carbon footprint. However, an electric vehicle as effortless as the BMW iX xDrive40 undoubtedly makes a sustainable trip much more accessible.
Norway is even the safest country to drive as they have the road traffic deaths per capita globally. To test out the BMW iX, the team hit the road to explore some sites around Oslo and South to the town of Son, with a quick stop in Drøbak along the way.
As the roads are most along the Oslofjord, you pass through wonderful little villages and lovely countryside. Along the route are many stunning beaches and a bounty of fresh seafood. Son is a charming tiny hamlet, a 50-minute drive outside of Oslo, and we couldn’t think of a better escape from the city.
Its location on the “sunny” side of the Oslofjord means the town receives more sun than the city and surrounds. Visitors from Oslo get to trade in city streets with concrete buildings for wooden homes, narrow alleyways, and scenic beaches. It also has some beautiful boutiques and restaurants to explore.
Not only does a vehicle like the BMW iX allow you to retreat to new landscapes, but it enhances the trip thanks to smart features, lack of emissions, and comfort. It feels much easier to enjoy nature’s solitude with the knowledge of a more sustainable future.
Dream Worthy Road Trips in Norway
Norway’s abundance of picturesque roads and jaw-dropping landscapes means there’s no shortage of exploration. Of course, that goes for anywhere in the world. We’ll likely never finish exploring the Canadian Rockies. Here are some dream-worthy road trips in Norway.
The Atlantic Ocean Road
Atlanterhavsvegen, or The Atlantic Ocean Road, is a landmark achievement in construction and design. Fifteen years after its construction, photos of the five-mile road that connects the island Averøy through a series of bridges and islands are iconic. It’s undeniably one of the most scenic drives and impressive roads in the world.
Hardanger
Hardanger is the definitive version of Norway many of us have in our heads. It’s the picture-perfect version of the country with rolling hills of fruit, waterfalls, and the fourth-longest fjord in the world, Hardangerfjord. The Hardanger route winds along the famed fjord as it moves through the mountainous landscape.
Lofoten
The islands of Northern Norway are some of the wildest landscapes in the world. At its most wild is the archipelago of Lofoten. Despite its location in the Arctic circle, it has a mild climate due to Gulf Stream. Mountains in the region are staggering and home to colonies of seabirds and colorful villages. Through all of the is the Lofoten road that leads across Lofoten and Vesterålen.
Ryfylke
The first road trip I ever took to a foreign country was to visit Natasha’s friend’s family cabin along the route. Many will take the way to reach the famed Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock). It’s a vast mountain plateau that sits 604 meters above the fjord below. Views from the top are spectacular, and its sheer cliffs are stomach-churning.
4 Tips to help you have an awesome road trip
Use the Navigation
Navigation systems are also helpful because they can provide alternative routes, should they be needed, and take you around congestion hotspots. Systems like the one in the BMW iX remove many of the stresses around driving down unknown roads. The head-up display ensures you never miss a turn while displaying the speed limit, so there is no need to worry about missing a sign.
Map Out The Stops
Electric vehicles like the BMW iX take a lot of the headache from planning your trip. However, it’s still a good idea to plan your stops and know where you can recharge the vehicle if need be. If you have plans to make a particular visit, it’s always a good idea to charge the car while you explore, eat, or grab a coffee.
The drive to Son from Oslo and back for our test, the BMW iX xDrive40 didn’t need a recharge (thanks to the range of up to 425km) . Keep in mind the type of charger, too, as not all charges are equal fast chargers that utilize DC power will quickly top the vehicle while level 2 chargers work they offer a much slower experience.
Enjoy The Ride
As the saying goes, it’s not about the destination but the journey. That’s most certainly the case with a road trip. Luckily, intelligent navigation has made it easy as the vehicle can always place you back on route.
The Right Soundtrack
If you’re taking any road trip, you’ll need some jams. When you have a sound system like the BMW iX, it calls for a great playlist. We’ve got you covered if you’re looking for an excellent travel playlist or music. Just make sure you download all your music to your phone (Spotify and Apple Music have this feature), as you may not always have a connection. Granted, it does help when the BMW iX has 5G!
