Article Summary
- The BMW iX5 will be built in Spartanburg, South Carolina together with the X5 versions powered by combustion engines.
- BMW is assembling the battery pack nearby at Plant Woodruff, SC, where it pledges “zero-defect battery production.”
- The electric X5 will be available at first strictly as the iX5 60 xDrive, but other versions are likely to follow.
BMW has already launched the new X5’s configurator in many markets, where customers can build the six-cylinder models. The 40 xDrive and 40d xDrive are the first versions of the G65 generation to enter production in August. If you’d rather order the luxury SUV without a combustion engine, you’ll have to wait a little longer. The iX5’s battery pack won’t enter series production until December.
The largest battery ever installed in a BMW Group product, the iX5’s pack has a net energy content of 141 kWh in Europe and 144 kWh in the United States. It’s the same battery in both regions, but the usable energy is measured differently. Located just a few miles from the Spartanburg factory where the X5 is built, BMW Group Plant Woodruff assembles the electric X5’s battery packs.
Battery pre-production began about a year ago, and BMW is now preparing to assemble the packs that will go into customer vehicles. According to the schedule, iX5 deliveries begin early next year. The company is confident that its 300-plus employees and 250 robots at the Woodruff site deliver “zero-defect battery production,” aided by AI assistants and agents.
BMW Group Plant Woodruff is an entirely new facility in South Carolina built in record time. When series production begins in December, only about three years will have passed since construction started. Mind you, the batteries assembled there won’t all go into the iX5. The luxury automaker has committed to building at least six electric X models in South Carolina by 2030.
The Batteries Will Go Into Other Electric BMW SUVs
Their names haven’t been revealed, but it’s reasonable to expect an iX7 in 2027 and an iX6 in 2028. The other three could include M versions of the X5 and X6, plus an as-yet-unknown model. We’d rule out the iX4, since the coupe-like crossover is likely to be built in Debrecen. That’s where the iX3 is made, so it would make sense for the sleeker derivative to be assembled in Hungary. What else? Well, it’s unclear whether the long-rumored off-road SUV is actually happening or whether the XM will get a second generation.
Meanwhile, the Woodruff plant will initially dedicate its production exclusively to the iX5 60 xDrive. BMW is also expected to offer the electric X5 in a more affordable iX5 50 xDrive guise. A pricier M Performance variant could also happen as the iX5 M70. Both should arrive sometime in 2027, before the full-fat X5 M potentially joins the lineup a year later.
As the iX5 60 xDrive, the first X5 without a combustion engine delivers an estimated 435 miles (700 kilometers) of range based on BMW’s estimates using the EPA testing procedure. The same electric SUV is rated at 525 miles (845 kilometers) in Europe and other markets that use the WLTP standard. As for the long-wheelbase iX5 unveiled earlier today in China, it can travel up to 621 miles (1,000 kilometers) under the more relaxed CLTC testing cycle.
Don’t expect an iX3 with the iX5’s battery. BMW has already ruled that out, citing packaging differences. The iX5 uses taller cylindrical cells measuring 120 mm in height, compared with the iX3’s 95 mm cells.
