hey BMW take a selfie let us see your smile in three two one this is the new BMW I5 it joins the likes of the I4 i7 ix-1 ix3 and IX in BMW’s fully electric lineup and will sit alongside the Next Generation internal combustion powered 5 series can it convince exec Saloon buyers to go EV let’s find out BMW’s current electric lineup covers most bases but the I5 will slot very nicely between the I4 and i7 saloons giving executive buyers the option for an all-electric car that says things are going all right at work what about the exterior design Wise It’s got all the details you’d expect from a modern BMW albeit with a Twist or two it’s got a large blanked off kidney Grille up front digital headlights the same flush door handles as the I4 and the Hofmeister Kink now comes with an embossed five in case you forget what you’re driving there are black side skirts two presumably hide some visual weight and two character lines to draw your eye along the car foreign it’s not a huge departure from the 5 series it is very nice in here with the usual driver oriented cockpit design it’s a real blend of the sportiness of the three series and the comfort of the 7 Series for the first time ever in a BMW the I5 comes with vegan interior called veganza which is pretty much everywhere bar the leather steering wheel but if that’s not your cup of tea 

you can opt for full leather [Music] then there’s this Sleek curved display screen which has both the driver display and the central unit which controls pretty much everything so it has the main menu in here navigation and the games which uses the air console platform and has literally hundreds of games the I5 has a version of the interaction bar found on the i7 this is a long thin ambient light bar which can change color depending on the drive mode or to alert the driver of danger below this is a separate bar giving you quick access to vent controls demisting and hazard lights [Music] there are two powertrain options the first the I5 e Drive 40 comes with a single motor driving the rear wheels and kicks out 340 horsepower allowing it to hit 62 miles an hour from rest in 6.1 seconds and a top speed of 120 miles an hour there’s also version that’s been given a gentle going over by the end division the I5 M60 X Drive thanks to Motors mounted on both axles it’s all-wheel drive and combined they produce 598 horsepower and up to 820 newton meters of torque BMW says it’ll manage not to 62 in 3.8 seconds before climbing to 143 miles an hour the rear drive car will according to the wltp test cycle manage up to 362 miles on a charge to the m60s 321 as with all of BMW’s other EVS the soundtrack while it’s moving has been composed by Hollywood producer Hans Zimmer who you’ll know from Batman movies The Lion King and for those of you of a certain age the theme tune to daytime quiz show going for gold the I5 isn’t a small car at just over 5 meters long and nearly two meters wide but that means 

there’s more room for people their things a large boot space and perhaps crucially batteries it’s based on a version of BMW’s car platform which is used in the I4 5 series 8 series Z4 and more and as for the rear again plenty of space and it is very comfortable you really get to enjoy the glass panoramic roof which I think is a really nice feature got touch screen here for your vents and plenty of charging points and again the viganza interior and you really can’t tell that it’s not leather there’s plenty of tech on board that will keep you on the straight and narrow as always there’s a very good driver assist but now BMW you’ve taken it to a whole new level with Highway assist we’re legal the car will actually drive itself even when you take your hands off the steering wheel as long as you keep your eyes on the road and for an even cooler party trick it will actually perform an overtaking maneuver without you having to touch the steering wheel at all not only that but it has the parking assistant which means that the car will park itself even when you’re outside of the car just by using your smartphone and in some locations it will pay for parking without you having to do anything at all and there’s a selfie camera hey BMW take a selfie let us see your smile in three two one I have absolutely no idea why that’s a thing but it’s fun as for charging the I5 can be recharged from 10 to 156 kilometers of range in 10 minutes from a DC fast charger the I5 is also BMW’s first car to use the plug and charge function which means that certain 

public charging stations you can simply plug in and charge without having to mess around with payment cards or subscriptions the I5 is an important car for BMW because it has two jobs to do job number one convince current customers to make that switch from Ice to EV which they’re going to have to do as BMW phase their petrol cars out so the I5 needs to show people that it’s not only preferable but it’s also easy job 2 will be probably harder this needs to be the car that diverts eyes away from Tesla Mercedes and Audi Tesla is obviously the byword for electric driving at the moment it popularized them made Evie’s aspirational and has Legions of loyal fans merc’s eqe got to the market first which puts BMW on a back foot Audi’s A6 e-tron is coming later this year and certainly looks the part all although we don’t know what it’s packing just yet can the I5 manage these jobs maybe especially when it promises so much it’ll be out later this year and when we’ve driven it we’ll let you know what it’s like