What does an electric station wagon offer, an alternative to the most popular SUVs and crossovers

Call them station wagons, estate cars or shooting brakes.Alternatives to SUVs and crossovers, the offer of electric station wagons that combine practicality, style and efficiency is growing.Like the BMW i5 Touring

Call them station wagons, family cars or shooting brake as the English have always called them, cars like new BMW i5 Series Touring to understand each other.They, the station wagon, even if in the first months of the year according to Unrae data in Italy they only totaled 4.9 percent of the market, far from the 10.9 of the sedans and even more so from the 27.5 percent of the so-called "B-suvs"  (crossovers and compact SUVs), they are not giving up.Indeed, while the minivan are now on the verge of extinction, family cars remain an interesting alternative for those looking for a more elegant design, practicality combined with driving pleasure. Today there are less than a dozen electric station wagons available on the market, on average all with prices above 40 thousand euros.

All or almost all exempt from the duties on Chinese car imports that the European Commission has just announced, protectionist taxes ranging from 17.4 to 38.1 percent targeted at hit the supply of Chinese electric models (but also the numerous joint ventures between Chinese companies and European manufacturers, including BMW...) and which, in all likelihood, will have adverse effects, as already happened in the 1980s when the "enemy" was Japan at the time, remember?Whatever happens, among the latest news (duty-free...), the BMW i5 Series Touring, electric version of the BMW i5 Series sedan which we told you about a few months ago and whose SW version keeps its characteristics almost unchanged, including external dimensions.

BMW i5 Touring Series, electric for the first time (also).

The family 5 Series, Touring as they call it at BMW, had never been available in an electric version, recognizable by the acronym i5.And even today, which has reached its day sixth generation, while taking a big step towards sustainable mobility, does not give up on versions with internal combustion engine, with at least a couple of implications that we will see later.One thing is certain, the electric version, available in two variants, amplifies driving pleasure, one of BMW's always prerogatives.And it does so, unlike numerous SUVs and crossovers, while also maintaining a slightly british of station wagons.

If the idea is to combine the sportiness of a car, with the functionality of a large load compartment, the safety of one of the cars most equipped with driving assistance systems (in Italy it is not allowed but to change lanes on the motorway on Touring it would be enough to look at one of the external rear-view mirrors to see the car turn on its own, in complete safety...), this could be the right choice, budget permitting.

A "sophisticated, all-rounder and suitable for everyday use" electric wagon.Will it be true?

“A sophisticated all-rounder for everyday driving and touring”, is how a well-known BMW defines the i5 Touring.Let's see if the definition fits... Sul “all-rounder” we quite agree, if only for the dimensions (the 5 Series Touring is over 5 meters long, almost 2 meters wide);if you have a seventies garage it might not be enough to house it, even if there is a solution, that is to use the automatic parking, get out of the car (you can stay up to 200 meters away) and thanks to your smartphone make sure that the car enters the garage by itself, in the magic of silence and without the unpleasant smell of diesel or petrol that would otherwise he is forced to breathe.

Inside, the space is remarkable, even if - as anticipated - the negative aspect of not having a platform dedicated solely to the electric versions forces it to have a transmission tunnel, which reduces the habitability of the rear seats.Loading flexibility is good (and the threshold is low), the electric tailgate is convenient, the space for luggage is notable, this is similar to the endothermic versions and the dedicated compartments for storing the items are appreciable. charging cables which often end up hindering everyday life.

The interior also features disused fishing nets and recycled plastic

“Daily”, the note quoted, remember?Here it depends.If you exaggerate with the size of the light alloy wheels for example (at risk in the city when parking close to pavements, even if the cameras help), with the numerous options "M Sport package, Pro, Carbon etc..." or if you chooses the highest performing electric version, the i5 M60 xDrive Touring, everyday life may no longer be a priority feature.

On "tourism" instead we would have no doubts.That this electric 5 Series Touring is cut out for long family trips, regardless of the choice of versions and equipment, is evident right from the start.Everything on board seems designed to amplify driving serenity, which is an aspect of the project Mobility Revolution of LifeGate we have considered for years as the set of those characteristics (silence, space, comfort, connectivity, driving assistants...) that reflect the level of sustainability of a car.

Sustainability to which BMW dedicates increasing attention, renouncing (on the i5 the version is called Veganza) leather of animal origin for example (which however remains available...).The carpets are made with a synthetic yarn consisting of disused fishing nets, floor coverings and waste from plastic processing while the luggage compartment lining uses 50 percent of recycled plastic. BMW will soon accompany each model with a sort of "sustainable passport" that tells its identity, almost as if it were a corporate sustainability report.

The electric BMW i5 Touring is available in two variants

Having clarified the "all-rounder" identity of the electric 5 Series Touring, let's move on to the two variants.One, we anticipated, is the i5 M60 xDrive (you can see it in the photos), two electric motors, all-wheel drive, over 600 horsepower (442 kW).Beautiful but decidedly less "everyday", also due to the lower electric autonomy.Were we to choose (and we did for our test...), we would have no doubts, the most efficient version is the i5 Touring eDrive40:aesthetically more sober, a single electric motor, 250 kW, that is to say 340 horsepower which is more than enough and an 81.2 kWh battery (common to the two versions).And still remarkable performance, with more the best electric range, 560 kilometers declared, which become around 400 real with careful guidance.

Electric charging, because speed makes the difference

As we had already highlighted in the test of the 5 Series electric sedan, also in this case BMW offers battery charging options in alternating current with power up to 11 kW (standard) and up to 22 kW on request, with a power of charging up to 205 kW and a nominal voltage of 400 Volts, a choice that could prove limiting in terms of charging times compared to high-performance electric models (see Porsche Taycan or Audi e-tron GT) which already opt for the lithium battery architecture 800 Volts.

While travelling, the balance between sportiness and comfort appears clear

The rest is truly driving pleasure.Whatever you think, the 5 Series Touring, even in the “basic” eDrive 40 version, offers a rare balance between comfort and sportiness.The battery mounted low in the "floor", the optimal weight distribution, the calibration of the air suspension, the sensitivity of the steering.In a word, pleasant.

The second word is rewarding, for a number of aspects, from the quality of the interiors, to the color combinations (including brightness), up to the ease of interaction with the on-board controls (many vocal or "gestural", yes the gesture of a hand is enough to lower or raise the radio volume, for example).

The third word is reassuring.We have partly anticipated it, but the endowment of Adas which support the driver in reducing errors and distractions while driving, on this BMW i5 they amplify the sense of protection, for those in the car and for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.We will not mention the long list of driving assistance systems, but will limit ourselves to what has already been mentioned Highway assistant (unfortunately not available in Italy due to a regulatory issue), and which allows, on the motorway, to change lanes by taking your hands off the steering wheel, simply looking at the external rear-view mirrors, a taste of that autonomous driving which, as we have often said, represents, even more than electric, the real revolution in mobility.