The BMW heads off for a run down the M3 and proves its prowess with the inevitable tip trip. By John Challen

P11d: £53,240 BiK: 2% Range: 270 miles On fleet range: 284 miles  Efficiency: 3.4mi/kWh

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The BMW has showcased its practical side with a first trip to the local tip/recycling centre

The first chance for the BMW to really stretch its legs – and test the driving range – was by going to, er, BMW!

A trip to the HQ in Farnborough to drive the hydrogen iX5 gave me the opportunity to quiz the technicians over what I thought was a quirk about the car.

As the weather has been kind – and hot – since we took delivery of the car, its climate fan has been working overtime. However, from the off, the settings seemed to be ‘geared’ wrongly. As such, the difference in fan power between ‘very low’ and ‘low’ was huge – but minimal between the other options. The clever tech guys pointed out it was switched to ‘automatic’ settings, so the system basically knew what it was doing and I was worrying about nothing!

Out on the road, the iX1 is proving a great companion and any concerns I had about those 20-inch wheels have largely gone out of the window as the ride quality is perfectly acceptable – with a dash of ‘sporty’ thrown in. Performance is decent, as is expected from most BEVs, with miles being covered in a pretty refined cabin. There’s a touch of road noise to contend with, but only what would have previously been masked by the engine in an ICE version of the car.

Meanwhile, the BMW has also proved its versatility with its first trip to the local tip/recycling centre. One Sunday spent building flatpack furniture meant a LOT of cardboard and plastic was generated, but the iX1 – with its three individual seats all folded – swallowed the lot with ease.

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A delve into the BMW app sorted the radio stations issue

I’m the first to admit that I’m a) not that great when it comes to technology and b) a creature of habit. So, when a new car arrives at Challen Towers, I’ll preset the radio stations before I do anything else – and hope and pray that navigating between them doesn’t require going through a series of taps on the touchscreen. Thankfully, those days are mostly over, but I wasn’t quite prepared for what I had to do to complete that relatively straightforward task in the BMW.

It turns out that the driver can’t choose their favourite stations as presets without logging into their car through either the app or their BMW account. Bit weird and certainly something I’d not encountered – and a task that left me wondering why. Was BMW suddenly going to start bombarding me with ads for new albums from my favourite bands/artists? Was it worried I might cheat on it with a Mercedes-Benz or Audi? Who knows…?

Anyway, it turns out that getting connected was more straightforward than I thought – and five minutes before a meeting was all I needed for the iX1 and I to be, er, one with each other. Choices made and I was able to flick between channels with ease. Meanwhile, on the app, I still need to do something else in the car’s setting to allow me to see a record of my previous journeys. When I popped onto the app to find out the exact details, I kid you not, dear readers, it froze on me! Trying again, I eventually discovered I was instructed to “Activate ‘My Trips’ in your BMW”.

Technology, eh? At the heart of creating solutions to problems that didn’t exist!

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The all-electric version of the X1 SUV is well equipped and looks the part

I write these words without even having set foot inside our latest long-termer – a ‘Black Sapphire’ BMW iX1.

However, there’s plenty I can tell you about the car without getting behind the wheel. We drove the iX1 in a ‘near production’ form late last year and came away pretty impressed with its powertrain installation, performance and overall quality. What’s more, the iX1 is not that much smaller than the iX3 – a former member of the FW Fleet that is still fondly remembered and greatly missed!

But back to this iX1, which comes equipped with Technology Plus Pack (£2,750) and Comfort Pack (£1,050) which bring a whole host of additions to an already pretty impressive spec.

The claimed driving range of 270 miles is plenty and, in my previous experience of electric BMWs, likely to be pretty accurate, which is more than can be said for some other models on the market. It’s helped by the addition of a heat pump, which comes as standard. Charging times, even at home, appear to be pretty decent too – AC charging up to 22kW enables the battery to be fully replenished from empty in under four hours.

Away from the cost and efficiency stuff, however, I was drawn to the car’s wheels. The 20-inch multi-spoke bad boys (a £1,390 option) look stunning, but I’ll reserve judgement about the subsequent ride quality until next time.