BMW’s Geneva Motor Show star debut will be the new 5 series sedan lineup, but sharing top billing will be the 5 Series ActiveHybrid Concept Car– for the first time combining BMW’s straight-six petrol engine with electric drive.
Not surprisingly, the technology is tremendous – the twin-turbo six-cylinder petrol engine drives through BMW’s eight-speed automatic with Start Stop and adds the 40 kW electric drive.
An automatic clutch connects the petrol and electric powerplants and with the high level of torque instantly available via the electric motors, the interaction of the two power sources provides spontaneous dynamic acceleration.
Brake Energy Regeneration delivers electrical power to the battery.
BMW has developed a high level of all-round networking with intuitive driving conditions analysis which can extend the cruising range on pure electric power by up to 30 per cent.
