BMW i5 rolls off production line in Dingolfing
The all-electric i5 from the new generation of the BMW 5 Series is now rolling off the production line at the BMW plant in Dingolfing, Bavaria. This is BMW’s third electric car to be produced there within two years. BMW says the share of purely electric cars in total production will rise to 40 per cent next year.
BMW says it has invested more than one billion euros in the production of the i5, i7 and iX from its Dingolfing plant, with 300,000 electric cars to be built there in the coming year. A large proportion of these will be part of the BMW 5 Series, although both the BMW 5 and the BMW 7 Series are also available as combustion engine and PHEV models, while the iX is a pure electric model.
The BMW plant in Dolfing is BMW Group’s largest European manufacturing location and celebrates its 50th year of operation this year. How many vehicles will be produced per drive type remains open. “We are following the market. Customer requirements determine what the actual drive train mix looks like,” says BMW AG board member for production Milan Nedeljković without revealing which, if any, of the combustion engine or electric cars will take the lead in the legacy company’s marketing and advertising focus. “The BMW i5 and our plant in Dingolfing are perfect examples of how the BMW Group is transforming itself for e-mobility and developing our plants on the road to the BMW iFactory. E-mobility is the new normal at our plants worldwide. Between 2021 and 2024, we will have integrated a total of 15 fully-electric vehicles into our production network.”
BMW presented the new generation of the 5 Series Sedan in May. The German luxury carmaker is initially offering two drive options for its latest electric car with the i5 eDrive40 with rear-wheel drive and the sporty all-wheel drive i5 M60 xDrive.
In the case of the i5 eDrive40, a 250 kW electric motor is fitted to the rear axle, which comes from BMW’s “fifth generation” e-drive kit. The i5 M60 xDrive has 455 kW of power. The battery in both variants has a net energy content of 81.2 kWh.
The market launch is scheduled for 21 October. So far, BMW is only naming the base price for the i5 eDrive40, which is expected to cost at least 70,200 euros. Prices for the i5 M60, another all-wheel drive model announced for 2024, and the upcoming electric estate have not yet been revealed.
0 Comments