Which Seres M5 version to buy: AT RWD vs AT AWD
The Seres M5 has one generation (from 2024-09-01, still in production) and two versions: AT RWD and AT AWD. Both are Electro SUV Coupe cars with an Automatic 1-speed gearbox and 0 g/km CO2. The buying question is not “which generation” — there is only one — but which of these two drivetrains matches how you use the car. The numbers below are taken only from the catalogue data for those two names.
Which Seres M5 version to buy: AT RWD vs AT AWD
The Seres M5 has one generation (from 2024-09-01, still in production) and two versions: AT RWD and AT AWD. Both are Electro SUV Coupe cars with an Automatic 1-speed gearbox and 0 g/km CO2. The buying question is not “which generation” — there is only one — but which of these two drivetrains matches how you use the car. The numbers below are taken only from the catalogue data for those two names.
Which version to choose
AT RWD is the lighter, slower, rear-drive car: 268 hp (197 kW), 367 Nm, 7.1 s to 100 km/h, 200 km/h top speed, kerb weight 2235 kg.
AT AWD is the heavier, faster, all-wheel-drive car: 489 hp (359 kW), 688 Nm, 4.5 s to 100 km/h, 210 km/h top speed, kerb weight 2350 kg.
What the extra hardware buys, in arithmetic on those figures:
- +221 hp (489 − 268), which is 82% more power on AT AWD than on AT RWD.
- +162 kW (359 − 197).
- +321 Nm (688 − 367), 87% more torque.
- 2.6 s quicker 0–100 km/h (7.1 − 4.5).
- +10 km/h top speed (210 − 200).
- +115 kg kerb weight (2350 − 2235), 5% heavier.
Weight per horsepower:
- AT RWD: 2235 ÷ 268 ≈ 8.34 kg per hp.
- AT AWD: 2350 ÷ 489 ≈ 4.81 kg per hp.
Horsepower per tonne of kerb weight:
- AT RWD: 268 ÷ 2.235 ≈ 120 hp per tonne.
- AT AWD: 489 ÷ 2.350 ≈ 208 hp per tonne.
AT AWD therefore carries about 88 hp more per tonne (208 − 120) even after the 115 kg penalty. The extra mass is small next to the extra output: 115 kg for 221 hp is about 0.52 kg per extra horsepower.
Power-per-litre is not measured for either version: displacement is not measured, because both are Electro with no engine capacity in the data.
Choose AT RWD if you want the lower kerb weight (2235 kg), RWD, 268 hp / 367 Nm, and you accept 7.1 s to 100 km/h and 200 km/h. Suspension and brakes are the same labels as AT AWD (Independent, spring front and rear; Ventilated disc front; Disc ventilated rear). Fuel consumption, tank, ground clearance, wheel sizes, and gross weight are not measured on this version either — they do not become “better” by choosing RWD; they are simply absent from both rows.
Choose AT AWD if you want AWD, 489 hp / 688 Nm, 4.5 s to 100 km/h, and 210 km/h, and you accept 2350 kg. That is the only catalogue path to the higher power, torque, and shorter sprint. It does not add a second gearbox type (still Automatic, 1 speed), a different body (still SUV Coupe), or a measured economy figure.
There is no third version and no restyling generation in the data. If you need a number that is not in the table — range, mpg, battery kWh, ground clearance, tank, wheels, gross weight — it is not measured on both AT RWD and AT AWD, so it cannot decide the purchase between them.
Generations (what changed — and what did not)
1 generation (start 2024-09-01, stop not measured / still listed as current): SUV Coupe, 2 versions, both Electro, both Automatic with 1 speed, both CO2 0.
There is no second generation to compare. You cannot buy a “previous M5” from this catalogue: only this generation exists. Differences that would normally be generation-to-generation (body type, fuel type, gearbox family) are zero here. All of the choice sits inside 1 generation, between AT RWD and AT AWD.
Shared across both versions of 1 generation:
- Body: SUV Coupe
- Engine type / fuel: Electro / Electro
- Gearbox: Automatic, 1 speed
- CO2: 0
- Front suspension: Independent, spring
- Rear suspension: Independent, spring
- Front brakes: Ventilated disc
- Rear brakes: Disc ventilated
- Start: 2024-09-01
- Displacement, cylinders, cylinder layout, valves per cylinder, boost, engine location, feed system, compression, bore × stroke: not measured
- City / highway / combined consumption, tank, eco class, gross weight, ground clearance, wheels: not measured
What 1 generation actually splits on is drive (RWD vs AWD), output, sprint, top speed, and kerb weight — the figures in the next sections.
Engines and specs
Both versions are Electro. Displacement, cylinders, layout, and boost are not measured; do not infer a piston layout.
| Version | hp | kW | Nm | Displacement | Fuel | Cylinders | Layout | Boost | Gearbox | Speeds | Drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT RWD | 268 | 197 | 367 | not measured | Electro | not measured | not measured | not measured | Automatic | 1 | RWD |
| AT AWD | 489 | 359 | 688 | not measured | Electro | not measured | not measured | not measured | Automatic | 1 | AWD |
Same Automatic 1-speed on both. The drivetrain label is the version name: AT RWD is RWD; AT AWD is AWD. Power and torque scales with that split (268 hp / 367 Nm vs 489 hp / 688 Nm), not with a change of gearbox.
Performance and economy
0–100 km/h
- AT RWD: 7.1 s
- AT AWD: 4.5 s
- Gap: AT AWD is 2.6 s faster. Relative to AT RWD’s 7.1 s, that is about 37% less time to 100 km/h.
Top speed
- AT RWD: 200 km/h
- AT AWD: 210 km/h
- Gap: 10 km/h (5% higher on AT AWD). The sprint gap (2.6 s) is large; the top-speed gap is small. If you buy AT AWD only for a higher limiter, the catalogue gives you 10 km/h, not a second performance class on that axis.
Fuel consumption / mpg
- City, highway, mixed: not measured on AT RWD and not measured on AT AWD.
- Tank: not measured on both (Electro, no tank figure).
- CO2: 0 on both.
You cannot pick a version for better mpg from this data. Economy is not a differentiator here; it is missing for both.
Dimensions and weight
Kerb weight
- AT RWD: 2235 kg
- AT AWD: 2350 kg
- AT AWD is 115 kg heavier.
Gross weight: not measured (AT RWD and AT AWD). Ground clearance: not measured (both). Wheel sizes: not measured (both). Tank: not measured (both).
Weight is the only measured size-related figure that changes with version. AT RWD is the lighter catalogue car. AT AWD still has the better kg-per-hp (4.81 vs 8.34) because 221 extra hp more than covers 115 extra kg.
Payload cannot be calculated: gross weight is not measured, so “how much you can carry” is not in the data for either version.
Specs that do not help you choose
These are identical or equally unmeasured, so they should not swing AT RWD vs AT AWD:
- Production window: both from 2024-09-01, stop not measured.
- Body: SUV Coupe.
- Fuel and engine type: Electro.
- Gearbox: Automatic, 1.
- CO2: 0.
- Suspension and brake labels: Independent, spring / Ventilated disc / Disc ventilated.
- Displacement, cylinders, layout, boost, consumption, tank, clearance, wheels, gross weight, eco class: not measured.
Short buy rule
- AT RWD — 268 hp, 367 Nm, 7.1 s, 200 km/h, 2235 kg, RWD. Lowest measured mass in this generation.
- AT AWD — 489 hp, 688 Nm, 4.5 s, 210 km/h, 2350 kg, AWD. Highest measured power, torque, and sprint; 115 kg more kerb weight.
One generation, two versions, same Electro Automatic 1-speed SUV Coupe. The purchase is RWD and 268 hp versus AWD and 489 hp; every other measured chassis label in the data is the same, and mpg, range, clearance, and wheels are not measured on either.