New BMW 5 Series: EV and PHEV spotted with a completely new design

The current-generation BMW 5 Series will be replaced in 2024, seven years after its launch, and our spy photographers have caught the first glimpse of its completely redesigned successor.

With a bold new look that clearly sets them apart from today’s car, two versions of the G60 Generation 5 Series were spotted at a BMW test facility in Germany: a plug-in hybrid and the all-electric version known as the ‘ i5’ .

Following the imminent arrival of the iX flagship SUV and i4 sedan, BMW will launch a further seven pure electric cars by 2025, with several core combustion-engined models getting EV derivatives in the same vein as the X3-based iX3. Prior to these images of the new 5 Series, we’ve seen battery-powered prototypes of the next-generation 7 Series, current 3 Series and the X1 crossover.

The company hasn’t specifically specified how it will vary its EV powertrain offerings, but the current 5 Series uses the same CLAR architecture that supports the electric and combustion engine versions of the new 4 Series, suggesting its bigger sibling. will provide a similar drivetrain—up if it holds the platform.

That means the standard version of the i5 could potentially be offered with both rear- and four-wheel drive powertrain options, with power ranging from 335 horsepower in the i5 eDrive40 to 536 horsepower in the performance-oriented i5 M50 xDrive – echoing the i4’s model naming strategy . The i4 uses an 80.7 kWh battery pack, rechargeable at speeds up to 210 kW, for a maximum claimed range of between 255 and 367 miles.

The plug-in hybrid versions of the new 5 Series will likely keep their current 530e and 545e badges, with electrified four- and six-cylinder petrol engines respectively. A range of pure-burning variants will likely remain on sale, at least initially, though it remains to be seen whether BMW will reintroduce the 523-hp V8-powered M550i top-of-the-line, and the full-fat M5 will almost certainly take some form adopt electrification.

Our first look at the new 5 Series shows how radically it will be visually distinguished from the current car. Notably, the controversial vertical grilles of the new M3 and 4 series are absent, with the new 5 adopting a more familiar horizontal arrangement, which will be omitted for the EV.

The front itself is a much sharper arrangement, with the grilles tilted back to give the hood a slight overhang, while the rear seems to deviate from the conventional three-box sedan shape for a fastback-esque silhouette – although variations in the shape of these prototypes suggest the EV and combustion cars are slightly different shapes.