Is the electric version of the latest 5 Series executive car really worth £77k? We’re living with one to find out
Steve Huntingford steve.huntingford@haymarket.com
THEY SAY YOU should never go back, but it’s not a rule that I personally live by; if I did, I wouldn’t be writing this story, given that I’m currently on my second stint at What Car?.
The way I figure it, if you liked something the first time around, why on earth wouldn’t you revisit it? And that goes for cars as well as jobs – which is why I’m now running a BMW i5.
You see, a few years ago I had a plug-in hybrid BMW 530e, and it was brilliant to live with: comfortable, composed and beautifully made. On top of all that, I averaged more than 70mpg over the course of my time with it, despite not making a huge effort to drive efficiently.
The i5 is my second electrified 5 Series, then. But unlike the original, this one is fully electric, instead of having a petrol engine and fuel tank to go with its electric motor and battery. Not that I’m worried about this lack of back-up. While the 530e was my first dip of the toe into electric motoring, I’ve run three fully electric cars since then, so I know that they fit into my life, despite the sometimes patchy nature of the UK’s public charging infrastructure.
Similarly, I know that the i5 will be great for my company car tax bill; like all electric cars, it qualifies for the lowly 2% band, which equates to around £60 per month in this case if you’re a 40% taxpayer. And that’s despite me upgrading to M Sport Pro spec and adding several packs and options that pushed up the price of my car.
The most expensive of these was the Comfort Plus Pack, which costs a whopping £5000 but brings lots of desirable features, including keyless entry, a powered bootlid, a heated steering wheel, heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats and four-zone climate control. That last item, in particular, felt like a must for marital harmony, given that my wife – who usually sits behind me in the car so that our six-year-old daughter isn’t alone in the back – likes the interior to be toasty warm, whereas I prefer it to be refreshingly cool.
I’ve also got the Technology Plus Pack (£3300), which allows me to control key functions with gestures and adds both a 360-degree parking camera and an augmented reality head-up display, which can project a wide variety of information onto the windscreen to help keep my eyes on the road.
