I own this vehicle. My typical daily driving is under the 30+ mile electric range. I picked the vehicle up in February and still have not purchased gasoline.

Just came here to see how big the grill was. I'm glad they kept it modest

I got a 2021 X5 xDrive 45e back in November and am still on my 2nd tank of gas (1 fill up). I love how it drives and the laser headlights (I got the executive package). A few things I don't care for are the small 2nd row (it wouldn't hurt to give another inch of legroom and take a tad of the room from the back) and wind noise around the 2nd-row windows. The vehicle is so quiet that I sometimes wonder if a window is slightly open. I ended up disabling the hand gesture feature - it kept doing things when my wife or I talked with our hands. The wireless Apple Carplay has been flawless - love that. I charge it overnight with the level 1 charger in the garage and the limited electric range gets me back and forth to work without a drop of gas. BMW has done a great job with the level of customization in the software - I find it easy to navigate and get things just how I like them. I'd like to be able to turn on the massage seats automatically each time the vehicle starts, have the front camera turn on when slowing down (Acura does this well), and be able to see my side view cameras when I turn on the turn singles (like Hyundai/Kia/Genesis does). Making the switch to a Hybrid has taught me that my next vehicle will be 100% electric. It do not miss going to the gas station at all. One other area I dislike the vehicle - the cup holders are not great. The 2nd row only has 2 not-deep cupholders in the armrest, and the front seats are right up next to the wireless charger and USB ports.

Nice job, Alex, I like your style, you’re thorough

You are the best, most thorough, least annoying auto reviewer on KZfaq. I love cars and want to learn about all the new stuff going on in the auto industry. But, I really have to suffer through that Doug guy. Your reviews are a pleasure to watch. Good job.

I can attest to the front seating foundation. Simply the best in this segment!

Thank you Alex for the thorough review.

Some cost analysis between the ICE version and the PHEV version. ICE gets 23 mpg, taking 1.34 gallons to go 31 miles. PHEV version takes 17 kWh to go 31 miles. To go 31 miles, the ICE version costs $4.02 ($3 / gallon) or $6.70 ($5 / gallon). The PHEV costs $2.55 (15 cents / kWh). Presuming you drove exactly 31 miles every single day of the year, the PHEV version would save $536 - $1,514 per year depending on gas price. If the PHEV driver travels beyond that distance and has to use gasoline, some of the savings will be lost. If a person has a 62 mile r/t commute and has access to home and workplace charging, then the savings doubles to $1072 - $3,028 per year depending on gas price. PHEVs also require less maintenance. They potentially have longer periods between oil changes and engine air filter changes, fewer brake pad and rotor changes, potentially fewer spark plug / coil pack replacements, and potentially less problems experienced by the engine overall which is used less. The PHEV's savings could easily improve by another $200-$500 per year on average. The lifetime of the PHEV's drivetrain could potentially improve to over 200k-300k miles fairly easily, and I wouldn't be surprised if used vehicle price retention is improved. BEV and PHEV used car prices have been increasing. PHEVs do often see higher state registration fees to make up for missing road taxes that would normally be paid for in gasoline purchases. In the future, don't be surprised if states or the federal government add an emissions tax to gasoline purchases, which will make the PHEV's TCO even more superior to the ICE version. This vehicle also benefits from the ability to pre-heat the car in the garage... something the gas version can't do. You will make fewer gas station trips since you start every day with a full charge (assuming a level 2 charger is installed). The electric motor is quieter than the gas motor, and you will notice that you aren't sniffing exhaust fumes as much... so much so that you WILL notice when other cars are pumping out them fumes. With the total purchase price of the vehicle being cheaper than the gas only version after federal tax credit... it's a no brainer to buy the PHEV version. The only exception would be if you absolutely need 3 rows of seats. No... you don't need to ever charge outside of your own garage. However, if you don't plan to charge this overnight and/or at your workplace every single day, then this vehicle isn't meant for you, and its operating costs will actually be higher than the gas version.

Great explanation of vehicle features.

Very good review thank you

Looking forward to the updated review of the new 2024 X5 50e. Just ordered mine.

Very good review. I agree with the conclusion and I have put my money on the bmw although I like Volvo design more. Congratulations

Great video!! Thank you!!

Really Nice Video!!! You could make a buying decision out of this video… Such Details!!!

I recently rented a mid-size sedan... or, I should say, that's what I requested. The rental location was out of those, so they gave me a free upgrade. That upgrade: the BMW X7 i40. I think I'm spoiled now; it was extremely comfortable, and it accelerated quickly without breaking a proverbial sweat. Thankfully, I have a Toyota Avalon Hybrid Limited, so it's not a steep drop down going back to my mundane day-to-day life. If I were buying a BMW, I would probably opt for the X5 because I would usually be the lone occupant and don't need the third row that's in the X7. This hybrid X5 would also be attractive to me for urban/suburban driving where I wouldn't go past 30 miles a day, so I could run most of the day in EV mode. That reminds me... I need to buy some lottery tickets. ;)

If an award would be given for the best Automotive reviewer you would certainly get It also Sofian would at least get honourable mentions.

Nice video!

I've really admired this car. There are a dozen different things to be impressed by. But now that I've learned about the tailgate I'm on my way to the dealership.

Got it back in October I got 3500 mile, 2100 In electric, smartest vehicle purchase I’ve ever made (no regrets)! I’ve gotten over 30 miles of electric, depending on if your running the AC/Heat. & with the gas situation going on, I plug it up everyday now 😂

Put this PHEV engine in the 3 series, call it M340e with M-Sport Diff!

For those in California, this model qualifies for the California Clean Fuel Rebate of $1500, but it does not qualify for the Clean Vehicle Rebate program. The only plug-in hybrids that qualify for that program now (as of April 6, 2021) are the Chrysler Pacifica, The Ford Escape, the Honda Clarity and the Toyota RAV4 Prime.

Alex, missed your follow up full review on the Q5 plug-in. Though your initial review was great..Ended up leasing it and love it a lot! The crazy thing about the Bmw plugins (both x3 and x5) is how bad the fuel economy is after battery depletion. In the Audi I still easily get around 30mpg in hybrid mode (EPA is 27 I think)

Took 3 months for my custom order to arrive, picked it up last Friday and it's amazing coming from a Tesla Model 3. My daily commute is ~20 miles so perfect for me. All 45e qualifies for the entire Federal $7500 tax credit.

Many ppl got around 13% discount on regular 40i 2 years back, better than federal credits for this vehicle.

Great review! Might you consider reviewing the 2024 model? Thanks!

Alex can you add the adaptive cruise/self drive as a grade on your grading page? Stays in lane, bounces, what happens when you don’t hold the wheel, when it shuts itself off... might add 30 sec per video. Love your content and the detailed info you share - I’ve watched hundreds - my only wish is you would consider a grade for this specific point, at least on the vehicles that are daily drivers.. everyone I know talks about this, but there isn’t much attention by any of the online reviewers..

My bro in law has this car. He installed a powerful charger in his garage and it did speed up charging times. The battery is very heavy, over 500 lbs. So it’s debatable whether the hybrids extra cost verifies its mpg increase. He said he could feel the weight of the battery in turns. IMO the standard lighter 6 cyl X5 with 26mpg hwy and 0-60 times at just over 5 secs, offers plenty of speed and decent mileage.

Great review ! If I could afford it, I would also choose the X5 45E.

Long awaited

The lincoln aviator can be had as a plug in !!

Alex please do an updated review on the Tesla Model Y!

My EV has a 30KW battery with 27KW usable. Easily fully charges over night, not 20 hours using 110 VAC.

Hey Alex, if it's your money, are you getting the 40i for better gas fuel economy and lighter weight? Or are you getting the 45e with full electric option and tax credit savings?

Does it have finally amber turning/signal lights? or it is an EU model?

Just imagine the trouble codes this will generate in ten years

Of interest...I have 2015 40e....brilliant ...am averaging over 60 mpg...My dream 45e...

The title is referencing the decision to buy or not buy the car, but why do people buy PHEVs and NOT plug them in? It seems to be pretty common.

How efficient is the battery power usage? At 24kw, it would cost about $5 of low tier electricity to fill, and that seems similar to the cost of a premium gallon. Is my calculation correct?

Is this car going to self-charge during the driving? Where can I find the official documentation on it?

I have already put my money on the BMW. Plus APR credit of $2500 , 0.9 Financing and Owner Loyalty makes the deal sweeter.

Hey great guy, Jimmy here, listen can you please do a complete eval of the new 2024 BMW X5 50e really soon, and if you want, compare the 50e to the 2023 Jeep 4Xe, Also, my trying to decide between these two vehicles is for towing a 4,000 lb camping trailer about 3% of the time when I'm on vacations, if you could figure out how to evaluate these two Plug-in Hybrids' actual towing abilities towing 4,000 lbs, that could be a new untapped niche for you, Thanks, Jimmy 😊😊

But what about the Aviator Grand Touring...? Wouldn't that be a competitor?

Do I have to have earned income to get the credit? I have the taxes part.

A level 2 charger will be a purchase by a wise buyer.

You forgot one....the Cayenne E Hybrid. It's a good chunk more $$, but it's the same category. 2 row, midsized, plugin hybrid. Also, both it and the BMW you are reviewing get the full $7,500 credit. Can you tell I'm in the market? ;)

Tax Credit for this vehicle is actually $7500, Not $5800 mentioned in video.

I don't like how Beamers still have the side mirrors mounted on the window instead of on the door. That should've been fixed by now. Other than that, seems like an alright car, IF there wasn't such a thing as a Tesla.

Did I see amber indicators out back? Please say yes

Your tax credit figure at the start of the video is wrong; too low. 1:23 You correctly stated it at the end. I imagine you were quoting the credit for the old X5 PHEV which had a smaller battery. Also, the battery is 24 kWh, but it's only 17 kWh usable in the US, which is weird since the European version gets 21 kWh usable. Maybe it's different for larger SUVs?

Good review by Alex as usual. Two things I disagree, first is the handling, it’s certainly B+ for something in this category SUV class. Other than the regular X5s, regular and Hybrid Cayennes, nothing comes close to this. Q7 and Q8 may be at par. Second and this is a major review rating gap is efficiency. If the use case is 35 miles or less or even 50 miles with ability to charge at work or wherever, this makes a tremendous case for itself. That’s 90% of typical usage for anyone. Upto 100 miles a day, it still makes great case as a balanced hybrid. Anyone that does 100 miles plus a day and mostly freeways with not much ability to charge should not be getting this at all. Stick to the regular X5. In this category there is nothing to beat this currently ( Oct 22) so the rating is surely a solid A. Alex should compare this to the newer XC90 with extended EV range

Suggestion Alex: nix the trunk comfort index (who actually sits in the trunk?), and institute a spare tire index (no spare, temp spare, full sized spare, access to spare).

And Alex’s head just got dinged in the trunk comfort index segment. RIP

Thanks for the comparison, great video. Curious if the BMW has adaptive cruise control like the XC90, the XC90 not only has adaptive, but it will steer for you and keep your car within the lines. Thanks!

Thanks a lot, nice video! I’m considering the 2022 X5 45e but want to understand if in Florida the tax credit applies or not. As soon as the cars arrive in stock, I’ll ask a quote to my dealer

Thank you for this video. I have a question. Do you know if there is a way to make adjustments to the regen braking? I feel like I would like the regen braking to be a little more aggressive, is that possible to adjust?

I am looking for a resistive heating element for cabin heating while plugged in, Does this has it ? Does this have electric AC compressor or conventional ?

Shouldn't you be considering electric only range in your fuel economy figure? Or at least add a new category for electric range for PHEVs? Also, any idea what the electric only 0-60 time is? It's important to determine how slow you need to accelerate to get up to highway speeds without the ICE kicking on.

Alex, what is the real world full electric only range you got from the X545E?

24:03 I want to know more about the "Volco"

Does 45e come with standard air suspension?

How does it Compare to for Porsche Hybrid?

You left out the Porsche Cayenne PIH.

The 2021 X5 qualifies for the full $7500 credit due to it’s large battery size.

I bet the battery was upsized primarily to get the full $7500 tax credit. It's not a coincidence that you need a 17 kwh battery to get the full tax credit and this has 17.7 kwh usable. PHEVs have certainly made conventional hybrids moot. BMW would likely be more reliable than the Volvo long-term since the B58 engine was deemed good enough for the Zupra.

so get the cheaper MY?

Can you put navigation on the instrument lcd like Audi?

When will your Model Y 7 seater review come out?

is it fit to 5 + 2 seater?

I have my 45e for 12 months now, and am absolutely delighted with the car. The only complaint I have is that the range in the USA is 30 miles instead of 50 miles. With the same 24 kwhr battery. My trips are ALWAYS closer to 50 miles. I was told BMW tried to keep their cost down by cutting corners in the regenerative hardware, but they can certainly update their software remotely to get it up to what they did in the UK. Tesla does 250 miles with a 70 kw battery, or 80 miles approximately on 24 kw. BMW X5 weighs more, so 50 miles on 24 kw is quite reasonable. But 30 miles is so poor that BMW should fix that, especially since they were able to do it in the UK already

For me, to plug 🔌 this car, I need to move to a house 🏡. With house prices are historically high, the price hike exceeds the price of this car, let alone the savings and rebates. I drive a Toyota hybrid anyway, and I live in an apartment at the back of a building with clif and mountain view, not a parking lot view. So, my plug won't reach.

Had a ‘16 45e and it never got warm in the winter. Had a bunch of problems too. Constantly in the shop and traded a higher power bill for lower MPG. Got a Highlander Hybrid and haven’t looked back.

Personally, I think that the BMW X5 is the midsize SUV on sale. You literally get everything: turbo inline 6 as standard, RWD based, good looks, nice interior, tons of tech, V8 option, PHEV option.

Other than the obvious off-road chops, how does this compare to the Grand Cherokee 4xe?

I think the Kia Forte has been available with ventilated seats since 2014. This thing doesn’t have them

Why the federal EV credit is less that $6k for this car? If I am not mistaken, it depends on the size of the battery pack. This one as 24kW. Then why not full $7500 credit for it?

This car is rwd, not awd?

You didn’t mention the Lincoln Aviator plug-in as a competitor at all. It is a similar size, similar price, and has a third row. Very disappointed to not hear it included.

....at best 38 miles, at best. And then you have the overly complex ice drivetrain. VOLTEC was and still is the way to go.

My Crosstrek gets about 24-25mi in EV mode and it's only rated for 17!

Xc90 has bigger battery now for 2022. it has over 36 miles electric only.

You forgot about the Lincoln Corsair PHEV which started production this week.

uhhh why put a POS 3kw charger in a 24KWh battery?

BMW is different from Volvo by providing 31 mile pure EV range even in cold weather and on highways. Volvo has hard time on freeways to keep 70 MPH warming up and switching to HEV mode. Also in the winter Volvo loses up to 50% of the range. BMW is charching very slowly though 3.5 KW while Volvo charges much faster. When battery is depleted the Volvo has much better MPG than BMW though.

If the next updates to the vehicle give it an EV range of at least 50-60 miles as well as a faster charger I may upgrade from my Tesla to it. It'll depend on some other features, the app, etc but I would absolutely consider it.

From this seemingly comprehensive review, I don't see any mentioning of HUD(Heads Up Display) does not work with polarized sunglasses, which most US drivers wear. I was very much dispointed of this difficiency after paying extra option for the high tech oriented German automaker BMW. I wish BMW discloses this issue or sales staff mention about it (good luck!). Afterall, without polarized sunglasses, it works great!

Alex, now that Volvo has increased the electric range on their XC90, would you still choose the X5 over the Volvo?

In Europe & UK, X5 plug in does 50 miles ev only range! Do they use smaller batteries in USA

X5 45e

I love it, but it’s expensive 😪

The overall torque rating is higher than the sum of it's parts? How'd they manage that?

The worst of both technologies. You’re taking the already complicated engine and transmission and now trying to cram batteries and ac motor in where it was never supposed to be. It will be a nightmare unicorn in years ahead. The reason for it is obvious as BMW can’t deliver a true EV X5 with enough range at the moment, but buyers should definitely lease this interim solution and then ditch it when lease ends.

can someone explain the lease terms on this?

Why the cayenne hybrid would not also be a competitor ?

Overpriced, doesn't matter how good the few small qualities this one has over the last Gen and its competitors. It comes down to the bigger picture at the end of it.

Damn, I was wondering why it would take this car so long to charge on a lvl 2 charger, and now I know why. It only has a built in lvl 2 3.6 kw charger. Wow. For that big of a battery (20+kwh), that would suck to charge on public chargers.

Shouldn't this car be compared with XC60 T8 instead of XC90 T8?

I think they should have put 4 cyl turbo instead of I6.

“Customers demand” What a lame excuse BMW’s given. If their campaign to promote drive electric then they would include the fastest charging cord not the L1 cord. No excuses for the price they’re selling

Lincolns better.

Don’t lease a X5, they aren’t a good value. You’re better buying one as they’ve got good resale.