At the conclusion of BMW’s virtual roundtable meeting yesterday – part of the company’s Munich Motor Show programme – BMW Group Malaysia’s corporate communications head Sashi Ambihaipahan provided some details regarding the electrification plans for this country. This included some progress with regards to the order books for the new iX electric SUV, which was launched here at the end of last month.
Although the exact number of bookings was not provided, Sashi did confirm that the figure is now in the triple digits. “The take-up has been tremendous – we actually hit 100 [orders] within the [first] week,” he said. “That was quite a nice surprise.”
The car was certainly on track to hit that figure, with 64 bookings having been registered by (the 64th) Independence Day, five days after the launch. This is despite deliveries only expected to commence next year – after the sales and service tax (SST) exemption ends.
Those initial buyers who placed those orders received some perks, including free installation for a wallbox charger (not included) as well as the free use of ChargEV public chargers for one year. The promotion was originally limited to the first 50 bookings but was then extended to the first 100.
Offered in a single xDrive40 variant at the moment, the iX is priced at RM419,630 on-the-road without insurance – or RM472,630 with the RM53,000 Sport appearance package. In this guise, the car is powered by a 190 kW (258 PS) front motor and a 200 kW (272 PS) rear motor, for a total system output of 240 kW (326 PS) and 630 Nm of torque.
A 71 kWh lithium-ion battery provides a range of 425 km on the WLTP cycle. Charging takes seven hours and 15 minutes using a 11 kW AC charger; the car can also accept up to 150 kW of DC fast charging power, filling up the battery from 10% to 80% in about 31 minutes. There are plans to open up DC fast charging stations at highway rest stops, malls and all BMW dealerships – good news for those travelling long distances.
GALLERY: BMW iX xDrive40
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Hideous inside out. Living proof that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
There is not a single part on this car that is attractive, it is a styling disaster. It’s like BMW is trying so hard to be hip and cool. There is no styling cue on this that represents a BMW, the grille, the D pillar, the lights, it looks like a cheap copy of it. This goes against everything the brand represents.
Not bad.
But why?
Malaysia economy dah mantap! This is due to brilliant steering of the country thru 18 months of chaotic pandemic terror.
50% fail loan lol
this is really an fugly car
What happens during peak travel balik kampung holiday time? How long would the power up que be?
Ok, if you drive from KL to Penang/Kuantan/Johor, is around like 237km to 360km.
But you’ll have to remember that electric cars generally loses a lot of range from highway driving.
Just wondering, how much is the road tax for this electric car?
The iX would be a >2nd car for the majority of the buyers. There is no range anxiety for me, if I need to travel >400km there are ICE cars in my driveway.
Also, I placed my order with the understanding that the booking fee is fully refundable upon cancellation. I suspect many will not go ahead with the purchase.
The smart will wait for gen2 with longer range and less bugs
the beauty of malaysia…. many are crying and not enough to put food on the table but there’s also many that making abundant and rushing into the latest luxury goods.
Increasing income tax doesn’t help since all these folks do not pay much income tax and they have so many ways to go round taxes.
How is it different in any other country in the world?
Bring back GST! Oh wait, pipul voted out GST now cannot blame anyone else but ourselves when the rich gets away with it.
100 reservations for this!? Just goes to show that there IS interest in EVs in Malaysia. A lot of interest actually considering that the Taycan is doing so good as well despite the lack of incentives and a relatively high roadtax (and purchase price). Will be interesting to see what EV incentives will be proposed at Budget 2022 but I’m not getting my hopes up.
100 orders for this hideous abomination!?