We’ve been invited by BMW to check out their brand new G60 BMW i5, which is the brand’s first all-electric 5er. It will be reaching Malaysia’s shores soon, but before that, we get a chance to have a go at it and see if it is indeed a worthy successor to the 5 Series.
Specifically, the model we test-drove is the BMW i5 eDrive40, which is confirmed to be coming to Malaysia, alongside the more powerful BMW i5 M60 xDrive. Registration of interest (ROI) for the all-electric sedan has also been open in Malaysia since March this year, before the global debut.
The BMW i5 eDrive40 is powered by a rear-mounted single electric motor. Paired with a single-stage automatic transmission with a fixed ratio, the car is capable of churning out 340 hp and 400 Nm to its rear wheels.
This enables the all-electric 5er to sprint from a standstill to 100 km/h in 6.0 seconds, and achieve a top speed of 193 km/h. Thanks to the 81.2 kWh battery, the all-electric sedan is capable of carrying you as far as 582 km (WLTP).
Charging-wise, the BMW i5 eDrive40 is capable of charging at a rate of up to 22 kW AC and 205 kW DC. The former will charge the car’s battery from flat to full in 4.25 hours, while the latter can juice the car up from 10 to 80% in just 30 minutes.
Aside from the all-electric BMW i5 variants, the latest-generation G60 BMW 5 Series is also available with mild hybrid (MHEV) and PHEV powertrains. However, there hasn’t been information on when these variants of the all-new BMW 5 Series will be coming to the Malaysian market just yet.
The G60 BMW i5 is a car that is more than just its specs. To find out more about what the car has, and most importantly, how it drives, do check out our video.
RELATED: Gallery: Malaysia-bound BMW i5 eDrive40 and M60 xDrive – 22kW AC charging, up to 582km range
