The i5 Touring is the latest in a 33-year, 1.2-million sales line for BMW. They've taken the existing i5 - and simply extended the roof and added a tailgate.The thunder crashed overhead with such loudness that it seemed as if an AC/DC drum solo was kicking off millimetres from my ear. The lighting flashed with millisecond intensity of the midday sun as a raging storm swept over the mountains and valleys near Strasbourg and dumped about a million litres of rainwater on the ground below.
To become a Touring, BMW has taken the existing i5 saloon and simply extended the roof and added a tailgate. The length, width, height and wheelbase remain the same, but the boot is considerably bigger and more useful – 570 litres outplays the saloon’s 490 litres, and you can fold the Touring’s rear seats flat to increase that to 1,700 litres plus some underfloor storage to stash your charging cables and the luggage cover.
For the long haul home, though, it made only sense to bring along the single-motor, rear-wheel drive eDrive40 model with its 340hp and 430Nm of torque. This is still a brisk car – 6.1secs to 100km/h is no one’s idea of slow – but it should be able to eke out considerably more range from the same 81.2kWh battery as you get in the M60.
That was not in and of itself a hardship as France has really got its EV charging act together. Everywhere along my route to Cherbourg there were rapid charging stations, usually with at least ten or a dozen connectors, most of them offering between 300kW and 350kW of power – easily able to top the BMW up at its maximum charging rate of 205kW – and every single one I visited worked flawlessly. Never had to queue, either.
Not that the i5 itself could be more comfortable. It’s a staggeringly refined car to drive, easing its way over lumps and bumps even on those optional 21-inch alloy wheels and with the kind of aural refinement that reminds you that BMW owns Rolls-Royce. That refined, laid-back nature gels effortlessly with its more sporting demeanours, which made the twistier roads across Normandy a delight.