Summary
BMW says its new iX5 60 xDrive reached charging power of up to 460 kW in a demonstration with IONNA and Alpitronic. The company quotes a 22-minute 10–80% charge for the 141 kWh battery, but says the demonstration hardware is not commercially available in the US today.
BMW Group says its new iX5 60 xDrive demonstrated DC charging power of up to 460 kW in a collaboration with charging-network operator IONNA and charging-hardware maker Alpitronic. The demonstration took place at an international media event in Laguna Hills, California, and showcases charging capability associated with BMW’s sixth-generation eDrive technology, or Gen6.
BMW quotes a 10–80% charging time of 22 minutes for the vehicle’s 141 kWh net battery. It also says the car can add up to 217 miles of range in 10 minutes, using the WLTP test cycle. These are manufacturer figures; the range addition is a test-cycle estimate rather than a promise of the same distance in every driving or charging situation.
What the 460 kW figure means
The 460 kW figure is a peak charging-power rating: it describes the rate of energy transfer, not the amount of energy stored in the battery. Peak power is not necessarily maintained throughout a charging session. The quoted 22-minute time gives a more practical measure of the charging window BMW expects for moving the battery from 10% to 80%.
BMW says Gen6 uses 800-volt technology, updated electric motors and a new high-voltage battery design with cylindrical cells. The company reports that these cells have 20% greater volumetric energy density than the prismatic cells used in its previous Gen5 batteries. Volumetric energy density refers to how much energy a battery cell stores for a given volume. BMW says Gen6 also supports bidirectional charging, which allows energy to flow out from the vehicle as well as into it; the announcement does not detail the specific functions available with the iX5.
An 800-volt architecture is designed to support high-power charging, but the vehicle and charging equipment must work together to deliver it. The demonstration therefore involved all three partners: BMW’s vehicle, Alpitronic’s charging hardware and IONNA’s charging network.
A demonstration, not a US charging rollout
The result illustrates the peak capability BMW is targeting for the new iX5 60 xDrive, rather than a charging rate drivers can currently expect at every public station. BMW states that the 460 kW demonstration hardware is not commercially available in the United States today. The announcement describes a technology demonstration, not the opening of a broadly available 460 kW service.
IONNA says its role is to connect vehicle and charger technology through a customer-facing public charging network. The collaboration highlights how vehicle charging capability and infrastructure need to be compatible for high-power charging to be useful in practice.