Our best Premium SUV of 2025 also happens to be an electric vehicle, which is why it takes our Premium Electric car gong, too.

The BMW iX has consistently been among our favourite cars in this category due to its staggeringly refined powertrain and chassis, its ability to both ride and handle better than its closest rivals, and the way it can enclose its occupants within a cabin that feels more concept car than posh SUV.

Not one to rest on its laurels, BMW treated the iX to a series of changes and updates this year, which combined to address what was previously one of the very few criticisms we could level at the brand’s imposing flagship SUV: its range.

There are two key ways to improve the distance an EV can travel between charges: improve its efficiency or make the battery bigger. BMW has done both here. New power electronics and updated battery tech, combined with lower- resistance wheel bearings, have reduced energy consumption by eight per cent, says BMW.

Then there’s the battery. The previous xDrive40 model has been replaced by the xDrive45, which brings with it 30 per cent more energy capacity, up to 94.8kWh. The mix of a larger battery and the more efficient powertrain saw us achieve around 320 miles of range in the real world, even on a drive that included plenty of motorway miles – and despite an 81bhp bump in power output over its predecessor, too; there’s now 402bhp to play with.