The niche market for classy, luxurious electric station wagons or estate cars with massive engines (or batteries) underneath has only been growing in recent years. Now, as we’re closer to the release than ever, we’re pretty excited about the upcoming BMW 5 Series “i5” Touring.

The most intriguing aspect of the upcoming BMW 5 Series generation. At least from the perspective of a wagon or estate car connoisseur, is that both the sedan and the station wagon, known as a “Touring” in the BMW lexicon, will be available as electric vehicles for the first time. Being in the atmosphere we’re in today, it makes it certain that the BMW 5 Series is going to have a fully electric station wagon for the consumer to buy.

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BMW i5 Touring Will Be A Fully Electric Long-Range Wagon

BMW 530e M Sport Touring Parked Front
BMW

Of course, it will still also be offered with gas and diesel engines and as a plug-in hybrid, but there is little doubt that the most exciting variant everyone is most looking forward to is the electric car. In contrast to arch-rivals Mercedes, Audi, and the VW group, BMW uses the same platform for both gas and electric cars, without this being at the expense of range.

The new i5 will have most in common with the version with a gas powertrain; we’ll guess that the upcoming BMW will follow the pattern and have a closed grill instead of the open “kidney grill,” since it does not need as large air intakes as a gas car. It also lacks an exhaust pipe. The side mirrors on the test car have an aerodynamic design similar to that used by BMW M, and this may suggest that this is an M edition, similar to the i4 M60 and iX M60.

It is not known for certain what specifications the i5 wagon will get, but the i4 uses a battery pack with a capacity of 80.7 kWh, and the i7 has a capacity of 101.7 kWh. In both cases, a charging rate of up to 210 kW permits an official range of up to 367 miles at its maximum, alongside a maximum charging speed of 200 kW. This allows for a 10 minute of charge to deliver up to 90 miles of range. We can probably expect something similar from the i5.

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BMW 5 Series i5 Touring Will Be A Competitive Wagon

BMW 530e M Sport Touring Parked Side-Front
BMW

In a market that has only grown since 2007, the BMW 5 Series “i5” Touring will be a competitive wagon. Especially in Europe, where station wagons have developed almost a sort of cult following with die-hard fans.

This being said, manufacturers have just been one-upping each other by trying to refine their station wagons further. They went from gas and diesel-powered to plug-in hybrids and now to be fully electric.

The interior of the BMW 5 Series i5 Touring is most likely to offer BMW’s finest minimalist interior that we’ve all learned to love. Since it’s an electric vehicle, we’re guessing BMW is going to equip the i5 Touring with its most modern technology. It could offer BMW’s latest and greatest curved display, measuring 12.3 by 14.9 inches. This is often positioned so that the driver can access BMW’s iDrive system as the screen is subtly tilted towards them.

BMW has ambitious plans for its lineup when it comes to EVs. They mentioned the 5 Series, along with other vehicles, in a press release:

Over the next year, the BMW Group will expand its electrified product line-up to include fully-electric versions of the BMW 7 Series and BMW X1. The high-volume BMW 5 Series will be added to the electric portfolio in 2023. The successor to the MINI Countryman and the all-electric Rolls-Royce Spectre will follow. By 2023, the company will already have at least one fully-electric model on the roads in about 90 percent of its current market segments. Over the next ten years or so, the BMW Group plans to release a total of about ten million fully-electric vehicles onto the roads.

The electric BMW 5 Series Touring, i5, is planned to be released no later than the end of 2023.

BMW M Performance Is Also Getting Electrified

BMW 530e M Sport Touring Side
BMW

The next-generation M5 is expected to come with a plug-in hybrid with a similar powertrain to the BMW XM. And it is quite possible that the M5 will also be offered in a “Touring” version now that the M3 has gone down that track. In a top-spec i5 M, it may be relevant to use as many as four electric motors—something the BMW M engineers are currently testing.

It is possible that the power could range from 335 horsepower to 536 horsepower, and the base model i5 Touring may be made available in rear- and all-wheel drive configurations. The latter would effectively result in an all-electric BMW M5 Touring. If it uses the same nameplates as the BMW i4, we anticipate seeing the e40 and M50 nameplates on both the sedan and touring versions of the 5 Series.

The 5 Series Touring’s platform sharing with other models has not yet been confirmed by BMW; however, given that the current model is built on the same CLAR platform as the new BMW 4 Series, the bigger vehicle may feature a comparable lineup of powertrain if it does.

Source: BMW