I’ve always been a fan of BMW’s 5 Series sedan. Sure, the 3 Series gets all the glory The 5 Goes Electric BMW has emerged as this kind of surprise champion in the EV world lately, so much so that outlets like the New York Times are even noticing. The reviews have been positive, the specs have been stellar and the German automaker’s overall percentage of total EV sales is something to envy right now. The i5 helps explain why.
That was as user-friendly as you want home charging to be. Really, so was public fast charging. The i5 is rated for DC charging at up to 205 kW. I plugged mine into a 175 kW EVConnect charger at 37% battery and 83 miles of range. Charging jumped to 156 kW pretty much immediately, dropped to 130 kW after reaching 40% and eventually tapered off to 86 kW at 62%. I added 20 miles of range in five minutes, before calling it at 70% after just 17 minutes.