In August, the first all-electric BMW X5 will roll off the production line at Spartanburg, South Carolina. The SUV is expected to weigh roughly three thousand kilograms, as it carries a battery larger than any BMW has ever fitted to a production car. That’s because it sits on a platform that was never designed to be electric.
You thought the 113 kWh pack in the Cayenne Electric was already huge? Enter the BMW iX5 60 xDrive. Certification documents unveil that the gross capacity of its battery pack will be 147.8 kilowatt-hours.
After BMW’s standard four-percent buffer, this translates into a usable capacity of around 142 kilowatt-hours—that number dwarfs every other battery BMW has sold. The Rolls-Royce Spectre makes do with 118.1 kilowatt-hours.
BMW has not yet published a homologated range, as the company is still calibrating prototypes in Spartanburg. But rumor has it that the car maker is targeting 1,000 kilometers on the WLTP cycle. For comparison, the Cayenne Electric has a range of 640 kilometers.
Decoupled springs
Big batteries come at a weight penalty, but reportedly, BMW is putting all its engineering prowess to work to hide the mass. The springs will be decoupled from the dampers to give the air suspension more room to compress, while the adaptive dampers and anti-roll bars will be repositioned.
Engineers have shaved millimeters from the battery pack height using cell-to-pack packaging. The result is a vehicle that must ride well and deliver the dynamics of its combustion-engined siblings, even though it weighs substantially more.
Neue Klasse clues
One reason the battery needs to be sized considerably to meet the specs is that the iX5 is not built on BMW’s dedicated Neue Klasse electric architecture. That platform is reserved for the iX3 and i3, the models that define BMW’s next chapter in electrification.
The iX5 rides on an updated version of the CLAR platform that currently underpins the combustion-powered X5. Even though this makes it a retrofit, technically, it remains an efficient way to fill the factory.
It also enables the SUV to be fitted with five different drivelines, including a hydrogen version jointly developed with partner Toyota, scheduled for launch in 2028. It is basically the ultimate expression of BMW’s multi-energy strategy.
The iX5 does borrow a few things from the Neue Klasse. It has an 800-volt electrical system and cylindrical battery cells. First preliminary reports mention DC fast charging at up to 400 kilowatts. The design will also bring some Neue Klasse styling cues, including a flush grille, integrated headlights, and cleaner surfacing.
Inside, the iX5 gets the Panoramic iDrive display and tablet-style touchscreen already seen on the smaller iX3. A four-spoke steering wheel will annoy traditionalists.
End of line for China
Meanwhile, in China, a different scene is unfolding. At BMW Brilliance in Shenyang, the conveyor belts that build the i3, i5, and iX1 are about to stop. All three are CLAR-based electric vehicles, too, and reach the end of their lifecycle.
BMW is not retracting its electric vehicles from China. It is clearing the deck for Neue Klasse. The first model on the new platform will be a long-wheelbase iX3, followed by an extended i3 sedan in early 2027. Both will feature BMW’s first driver-assistance system developed with the Chinese autonomous-driving startup Momenta.
