Daily Archives: February 12, 2016

2016 BMW 225xe Active Tourer review

February 12, 20162 Series Active Tourer PHEV, BMW, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentTrevor Larkum

BMW’s plug-in hybrid extravaganza continues with its 225xe Active Tourer, offering practicality allied to tiny CO2 emissions and pure electric drive

What is it?:

The BMW 225xe Active Tourer takes the fundamentals of the petrol-electric hybrid driveline layout first unveiled on the i8 sports car and turns it 180deg, creating an intriguing four-wheel-drive hatchback-cum-MPV capable of travelling up to 25 miles on electric power alone.

This allows the new five-seater to claim combined cycle fuel consumption of 141mpg and average CO2 emissions of just 46g/km on the controversial EU test cycle – figures that see it qualify for the UK government’s OLEV grant and mean it is exempt from congestion charges such as that in place in central London.

The new BMW is based around the front-wheel-drive 218i Active Tourer. However, some significant engineering changes have taken place to turn it into the four-wheel-drive 225xe Active Tourer, which is planned to go on sale in the UK in March at a price of £33,055.

While the i8 boasts electric drive on the front wheels, the imminently more practical 225xe employs electric drive on the rear wheels via a BMW-produced electric motor mounted within its rear axle assembly that delivers 87bhp and 122lb ft and provides drive via a fixed-ratio gearbox acting as a rear differential.

A similar change in configuration is reserved for the combustion engine. The turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol unit employed by the i8 sits in an east-west position behind the cabin and channels drive to the rear wheels, but the similar configured powerplant in the 225xe is mounted transversely up front and directs its reserves to the front wheels.

The petrol engine boasts the same tuning as that of the 218i Active Tourer, serving up 134bhp and 162lb ft on a reasonably wide band of revs between 1250 and 4300rpm. As on the i8, the moderate reserves are channelled through a six-speed automatic gearbox with paddle shifts mounted on the steering wheel.

Altogether, there’s a combined system output of 221bhp and 284lb ft. It’s not the most powerful 2-Series Active Tourer model, though. That honor rests with the 225i, whose turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine makes 228bhp and 258lb ft.

Electrical energy used to run the electric motor is sourced from a 7.6kWh lithium ion battery mounted underneath the rear seat in the same space as the fuel tank is located in conventionally powered Active Tourers.

As a result, the fuel tank has been reduced in capacity by 15 litres to 36 litres. It’s now also made of steel rather than plastic and is pressurised to allow petrol to be stored safely over longer periods if the 225xe is used predominantly in electric mode. The rear seat has also been raised by 30mm to accommodate the battery, which uses the same cells as that employed by the new 330e.

Even so, boot capacity has been reduced by 70 litres to 400 litres owing to the packaging of the power electronics in the front section of the boot floor.

Aside from a flap integrated in the front left-hand wing, housing the socket for charging cable, the 225xe looks like any other 2-Series Active Tourer. Recharging time on regular mains electricity is claimed to take 3hr 15min, with an optional high-power wall box reducing this to 2hr 15min.

First drive: the BMW 330e, a plug-in 3-Series

February 12, 2016330e PHEV, BMW, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentTrevor Larkum

Why are you reviewing a normal-looking BMW 3-series?

Because it’s got a plug-in hybrid drivetrain, that’s why. But it’s not like the 225xe people carrier, which is a natively front-driven car. That car’s hybrid system adds an electric motor at the back for the bonus of 4WD.

This 330e, on the other hand, is natively rear-drive. It uses a motor hooked directly to the flywheel driving through the regular automatic gearbox, so it’s still rear-drive only. So closer to BMW’s tradition.

OK, got it. Any numbers for me?

It uses a four-cylinder, 2.0-litre petrol engine with 184bhp. Add the e-motor to the equation, and you have 252bhp in all. Because the electric motor is geared one-to-one with the engine, its contribution is there for you all the time (the 225xe’s rear motor has a single-speed transmission and its effort falls away to nothing at motorway speed). So the 330e has the poke of a 330i petrol, and gets to 62mph in 6.1sec. Hot hatch quick.

Does it feel as lively as the numbers suggest?

Pretty much. There’s a smooth urge at mid revs thanks to the ever-alert electric torque. The petrol engine is quiet, but its tone is boring and grumbly. But nothing like as loud as the diesel engine you’d be buying instead.

In town, you’re often propelled by uncannily smooth and silent e-drive. Provided the battery has charge, the electric motor, at 88bhp, is plenty powerful enough for urban use without troubling the engine at all.

And the economy?

Officially, 149mpg and 44g/km.

Audi Q7 e-tron first drive: Electro efficiency

February 12, 2016Audi, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Q7 e-tron PHEVTrevor Larkum

Plug-in electric vehicles are on the rise, with the Audi Q7 e-tron joining the A3 Sportback e-tron and R8 e-tron – taking the German maker’s count up to three. There’s clearly momentum behind electric, thanks to its efficiency, environmental and fuel-saving implications.

But going green might put you in the red. The Q7 e-tron’s anticipated £65,000 starting price is a good £15k more than the combustion-only model – the one we took for a spin back in the summer of 2015 – which is a sizeable premium for this sizeable SUV. Is it worth it? We took the e-tron electric hybrid on the road to see what we made of it.

Audi Q7 e-tron first drive: It’s a 5-seater

First thing’s first, if you’ve thought about buying an SUV then the Q7 really ought to make your shortlist simply because it’s a good looking driving machine that avoids being too tank-like in its ways.

But – and it’s a critical one – if your eyes have veered over to the e-tron version, hand on environmental heart, then you’ll need to consider the space implication of the batteries. They’ve got to go somewhere, after all, and in the case of the Q7 e-tron that means it can only be a five seater, not a seven seater (which may sound at odds with its name, but that’s that way it is).

Audi Q7 e-tron first drive: Electric range

But the obvious trade-off between seating arrangements is that the Q7 e-tron can scoot along happily using only its electric motor – which with 94kW of output, translates to 128bhp – for up to a 35-mile range per charge. That might sound quite conservative, but let’s not forget this is a 2.5-tonne vehicle (it’s 450kgs more than the standard Q7), so perhaps that’s no surprise.

If you’ve got a commuting route with a charger at the other end (7.2kW charging means a refill in 2.5-hours; at-home means 8-hours per recharge), then you’ll quickly save on those pricey diesel top-ups over the course of time.