Green range of BMWs to grow across portfolio

BMW has till now stuck to mild hybrids, or ‘ActiveHybrid’ as they are called for the 3, 5 and 7 series. The rest of the fuel saving measures were related to diesels. But all that changed with the introduction of the two ‘I’ cars – i3 and i8. Both resting heavily on battery power and lightweight attractive design, the two cars have been phenomenal hits at the box office for BMW. Acting in on the acceptance of these cars, BMW has announced plug-in hybrid versions of all its ‘core-brand’ models.

Herbert Diess, Member of the Board of Management BMW AG, Development, said, “All BMW Group models benefit from BMW i. The fundamental technology involved in battery cells, electric motors and the power electronics will be used in our upcoming plug-in hybrid models. When it comes to the electrification of the drivetrain, we are deliberately developing a wide-ranging expertise in order to offer our customers worldwide the ideal solution.

The first car to get the plug-in eDrive technology already present in the i3 and i8 is the 3-series. The 3 Series plug-in hybrid prototype combines a four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor. The internal combustion engine is based on the TwinPower Turbo four-cylinder petrol engine that promises to be much more efficient than the ActiveHybrid 3 which uses a 3.0-litre engine. 

BMW says that the drive systems used in these future hybrids will offer combined outputs in excess of 500 kW (800PS)! Further, range and capacity of the batteries will increase according to the Bavarian carmaker. Range of these eHybrids is proposed to be in excess of 100km in pure-electric mode, a lot more than the single digit ActiveHybrid range.