BMW i5
Charging curve · consumption · motorway range
The BMW i5 has 81.2 kWh of usable battery and peaks at 206 kW on a DC charger. In this app's model it uses about 169 Wh/km at a steady 100 km/h and 248 Wh/km at 130, so 47% more energy per kilometre buys you 30 km/h more speed. Weigh that against a 30-minute 10-80% charging stop and you have the whole question of how fast to drive.
- Usable battery
- 81.2 kWh
- Peak DC power
- 206 kW
- 10-80% charge
- 30 min
- Average kW 10-80%
- 112 kW
- Mass, loaded
- 2375 kg
- Top speed
- 193 km/h
DC charging curve
Charging power against state of charge, on a charger fast enough not to be the limit. Peak power is 206 kW, but it has halved by about 59% state of charge. That is why a short stop low down the curve usually beats a long one near the top.
How long a stop takes
| Charge from | Time | Energy added | Average power |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% to 80% | 30 min | 56.8 kWh | 112 kW |
| 20% to 80% | 28 min | 48.7 kWh | 105 kW |
| 10% to 60% | 18 min | 40.6 kWh | 138 kW |
| 20% to 70% | 21 min | 40.6 kWh | 117 kW |
| 80% to 100% | 29 min | 16.2 kWh | 33 kW |
The curve, point by point
| State of charge | Power |
|---|---|
| 0% | 206 kW |
| 7% | 198 kW |
| 16% | 206 kW |
| 17% | 206 kW |
| 25% | 176 kW |
| 42% | 144 kW |
| 60% | 98 kW |
| 71% | 85 kW |
| 80% | 66 kW |
| 91% | 55 kW |
| 100% | 8 kW |
Consumption and range by cruise speed
Steady motorway cruising on flat road in mild weather, from the fitted model Wh/km = 55 + 0.0114 · v². The “usable range” column is the honest one for trip planning: it is 100% down to 10%, because nobody arrives on empty.
| Cruise speed | Consumption | Range (full pack) | Usable range (100 to 10%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 km/h | 147 Wh/km | 551 km | 496 km |
| 100 km/h | 169 Wh/km | 480 km | 432 km |
| 110 km/h | 193 Wh/km | 421 km | 379 km |
| 120 km/h | 219 Wh/km | 371 km | 333 km |
| 130 km/h | 248 Wh/km | 328 km | 295 km |
| 140 km/h | 278 Wh/km | 292 km | 262 km |
| 150 km/h | 312 Wh/km | 261 km | 235 km |
| 160 km/h | 347 Wh/km | 234 km | 211 km |
What the model does not include
- Elevation. The trip planner does account for climbs and descents; the range figures on this page are flat-road, so an alpine route will come out worse than the table.
- Temperature. These are mild-weather numbers. Cold raises consumption and cuts the charging curve. The planner models both. The numbers on this page do not.
- Wind, rain, roof boxes, payload and tyre choice, all of which move real consumption more than most people expect.
- Charger-side limits. The charging times above assume the site can deliver whatever the car asks for. A 150 kW cabinet shared with the car next to you will not.
Where these numbers come from
BMW i5 eDrive40 Sedan (MY25), and the interesting thing about it is how little separates it from the i4 above: 81 kWh against 81, 206 kW against 205, both about half an hour for 10-80%. What differs is the car around them, and at 130 km/h the bigger i5 uses about 9% more per kilometre. Same pack, same stop, less range. Curve fitted to EV Database's published figures. Charge curve measured, not drawn: digitized from published Fastned and InsideEVs plots by Morin et al., figshare doi:10.1184/R1/30570653 (CC BY 4.0), then reduced to anchor points that reproduce its charge times to within 2%.
What speed should you actually drive?
It depends on your route, on where the fast chargers happen to be and how the legal limits fall. Plan the real trip and the simulator will sweep every cruise speed against this car's curves and tell you which one arrives first.
Plan a trip in the i5