BMW might have abandoned plans to attend CES in person this year, but that doesn’t mean the iX M60 won’t be in Las Vegas this week. The company has set up a livestream for the world premiere from the show, scheduled to start on January 5 at 8 PM CET / 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT. CES at the BMW stand won’t be all about the high-performance electric SUV since the German luxury brand will also showcase a body paint color-changing tech and preview the in-car entertainment of the future. We should see these technologies during the same 30-minute livestream.
Of course, we are primarily interested in discovering what will become the second electric M car ever. Joining the i4 M50, the new BMW iX M60 is expected to come exclusively with xDrive and the bigger battery (115.5-kWh pack). By carrying “the most powerful letter in the world,” the spicy derivative has been conceived with performance in mind, meaning efficiency will take a hit over the 324-mile EPA rating of the xDrive50.
You will certainly be losing some of the efficiency chops, but in return, BMW will reward you with extra oomph. We’re hearing it could have over 600 horsepower sent to both axles, along with a lot more instant torque than the already strong 564 lb-ft (765 Nm) of the xDrive50. Consequently, expect the sprint to 60 mph to take considerably less than the 4.4 seconds needed by the lesser version.
Prepare to pony up some serious money since we’re expecting the M60 to cost six figures once you tick a few boxes on the options list. That seems like an educated guess considering the xDrive50 costs from $83,200 MSRP before spending time in the configurator to add extra features.
As previously reported, the iX is in high demand and BMW will be adding 6,000 employees this year to match the strong demand for the SUV as well as for the i4. Unfortunately, the cheaper xDrive40 available in Europe and other markets won’t be coming to the United States for the time being.
[Source: BMW]
