Battery size: 24 kWh
Company car tax: 7%
Emissions: 39 g/km
Range: 54 miles (electric)
Fuel economy: 202 MPG
Range
Brim the X5’s 24kW battery and you can get up to 51 miles of pure electric drive. That’s a pretty impressive figure and more than adequate for the average city commute. We can’t think of many UK cities where this wouldn’t be enough to get you to the centre and back out again with plenty of range to spare. If you’re one of those lucky folk who only have a few miles to commute, you could easily go for a couple of days without having to get the cables out. The only thing to be wary of is battery drain from other sources. The X5 is packed with goodies, all of which draw power. Keep too many of them on on a cold, frosty morning, and that 51 miles will disappear pretty quickly. We’d say between 30-45 miles is a realistic figure for everyday driving.
Battery
No, that’s not a mistake, the BMW X5 xDrive 45e really does have a whopping 24kWh battery pack. In an area of the market where most plug-in packs are around the 12kW mark, BMW’s decision to drop in a battery pack that has the same output as the original Nissan Leaf really raises the bar in the sector. The pack is located at the bottom of the boot area and within the wheelbase, and because BMW still need to find space for an equally vast fuel tank, the boot volume is 150 litres lower than the standard mode. That said, it still has 500 litres, which is almost twice the size of a BMW i3, so buyers won’t need to resort to roof boxes.
Charging
Like all BMW plug-in hybrids, the X5 xDrive 45e charges via a standard Type 2 cable. The charging flap is positioned just behind the passenger side front wheel and is at a good height. The battery pack can handle a maximum charge rate of 3.6kWh and can’t be rapid charged. Charging from empty to full takes around seven hours if you have a wallbox 3.6 kW charger. While this might sound a little tame compared to the latest generation of 150kW chargers, bear in mind that the chemistry of plug-in batteries is a little different to those in pure EVs and that DC rapid charging requires a lot more hardware in the car. The X5 is supplied with a five-meter cable as standard.
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