German luxury car brand BMW has officially announced that series production of the i5 mid-size electric sedan has commenced ahead of first deliveries later this year. The series production of the BMW i5 mid-size electric sedan has started at the automaker’s Dingolfing manufacturing facility, which is the group’s largest production site in entire Europe. The series production of the electric sedan has been started as the company has plans to deliver the EV to pre-order holders in various markets of the world before the end of this year.

In the U.S., the BMW i5 will arrive before the end of 2023. As a mid-sized sedan, the BMW i5 fits between the i4 and i7 in the brand’s all-electric lineup. The company will sell it alongside the identical, internal combustion engine-powered 5-Series.

The upcoming mid-size electric sedan features a wide array of innovative technologies, all of which are powered by the group’s brand-new OS 8.5 software. The interior of the EV features a 14.9-inch infotainment touchscreen and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. Like in Tesla cars, the i5 allows users to access streaming services and play video games in their vehicles when parked.

The long list of other notable features of the BMW i5 includes Driving Assistance Professional (hands-free driver assistance technology), which allows owners to drive hands-free on highways at even speeds of up to 85 mph. Interestingly, it the driver can make the vehicle to change lanes and automatically turn on indicators by just looking at rear-view mirror. The driver’s attention is constantly monitored by an interior camera that sends warnings in case he/she starts to lose focus.

Starting price tag for the BMW i5 has been set at $66,800 for the U.S. market. The variant available with this price tag is the i5 eDrive40, which is rear-wheel drive (RWD) model capable of offering an estimated EPA range of 270 to 295 miles on a single charge. It churns out 340 horsepower (hp), which is enough to enable the vehicle to sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour (mph) in just 5.7 seconds.

Those who are ready to fork out more can opt to buy the BMW i5 M60, which is available with a higher price tag of $84,100. This variant is capable of producing 601 hp, which is enough to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in merely 3.7 seconds. It is an all-wheel drive (AWD) model with an estimated EPA driving range of 240 to 256 miles on a single charge.