BMW iX, the world's first mass-produced pure electric vehicle to climb a ski slope

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] BMW Korea released the world's first ski slope climbing video of its flagship pure electric model iX on the 11th.

Filmed on January 23rd at Vivaldi Park in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, this video captures the process of the BMW iX becoming the world's first mass-produced pure electric vehicle to successfully climb a ski slope. It was planned to demonstrate that the core value of the BMW brand, ‘the joy of driving,’ can be fully experienced even in electric vehicles.

The iX xDrive50, deployed for the challenge, is an all-wheel-drive pure electric model delivering a maximum output of 523 horsepower and a peak torque of 78 kg·m. It sequentially conquered a 900-meter intermediate course and a 450-meter upper-intermediate course to reach the summit. The average gradient of the entire climbing route reached 21.2%.

Notably, aside from being equipped with alpine winter tires, the vehicle remained in its original factory condition. Despite the severe cold with temperatures dropping below -14°C, it completed 13 round trips at full speed over a total of 6 hours, with the battery level still remaining at 5%, demonstrating stable battery performance.

Additionally, due to the high torque unique to pure electric vehicles, the Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) could not be fully disabled, which is a disadvantage for driving on steep snowy slopes. However, BMW’s excellent motor control technology and all-wheel-drive system harmonized to successfully complete this harsh challenge.

The world’s first ski slope climbing video of the BMW iX can be viewed on BMW Korea’s official YouTube channel and Instagram.

Meanwhile, BMW Group has long supported winter sports where speed and technical skills are crucial, including the BMW IBU Biathlon World Cup, BMW IBSF Bobsleigh & Skeleton World Cup, and FIL Luge World Cup.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.