BMW 530e iPerformance – BMW’s 5-Series Plug-in Hybrid – priced from £43,985

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The BMW 530e iPerformance 5-Series plug-in hybrid goes on sale in the UK from £43,985 offering low BIK and an EV range of 29 miles.

It was only yesterday that we got details on the BMW M550i as BMW’s new 5-Series range rolls out, and now we get details and prices for the 5-Series plug-in hybrid – the new BMW 530e iPerformance.

Aimed primarily at business users (which, to be fair, the whole 5-Series range is in reality), the new 530e iPerformance takes BMW’s i brand and mates it with the 5-Series to create a 5-Series with a 29 mile EV range (probably 15 in the real world), 250bhp and official economy of 141.2mpg.

The eDrive powertrain under the 5-Series’ skin uses a 94bhp electric motor and a 2.0 litre engine with 181bhp to deliver a total usable output of 248bhp and 310lb/ft of torque, enough to get to 62mph in 6.2 seconds.

In the real worlds, the 530e will probably offer similar economy to a 530d – and similar performance – although for business users the low BIK makes it a bit of a no-brainer of a buy.

Recharging time for the 530e from a domestic socket is around five hours, but shell out for a BMW i Wallbox (which delivers a 3.7kW charging capacity ) and that drops to under three hours.

In all the ways that matter, the 530e is just another 5-Series, with all the goodies and dynamism of the rest of the range, and just a few visual clues to mark it out as an iPerformance model, like blue kidney grille slats, blue wheel hub covers, “eDrive” logos and a flap for the charger cable.

Officially, the BMW 530e is available to order from BMW’s UK dealers from mid-January.