Last week's edition of German magazine Autobild talked about rumored BMW i5, Auto News Europe reported on Wednesday. The third model graduating from the i sub-brand has been the topic of many conflicting reports in the last year; some pointed to an imminent release to compete with Tesla while more recent ones said the car won’t arrive until at least 2020.
Autobild says the i5 will be a plug-in hybrid using the eDrive technology BMW has previewed last year in a 5 Series GT Concept.
The naming convention is also not final, but the i5 nomenclature looks to follow others like the i3 and i8. The plug-in hybrid is said to be based on the long-version of the 5 Series Sedan which is built for the Chinese market, with design lines from the upcoming 7 Series and the proportions of a 6 Series Gran Coupe. Propulsion will come from a gasoline engine with 218 hp and two electric motors at the front (150 hp) and rear (272 hp). The system output of 640 hp is likely to force the passengers into the seats in the sprint to 100 km / h.
The purely electrically drive of the i5 is said to be up to 125 kilometers. During normal operations, the combustion engine can be switched from a speed of 60 km / h when the driving noise is at times louder than the engine. BMW wants 30,000 vehicles produced per year. Autobild speculates the price for the i5 will probably be around $130,000.
