Photo: CarPix
This average-looking car is not a 3 Series that's been crashed and badly repaired, it's a prototype from BMW, who have just begun work on the first plug-in hybrid version of the 3 Series sedan.
In order to become the perfect corporate car with low emissions, the BMW 3 Series is putting its racing days behind it to become the ultimate green machine. However, don't expect this plug-in hybrid to be a big softie.
All signs point towards a systemic output of 272 PS from a 2-liter turbo engine, helped by an electric motor. That's exactly double the power of a Toyota Prius, so don't expect the eDrive to be slow. Speaking of eDrive, we know this is the name BMW is going to give to a whole new family of powertrains. Our first preview came with an X5 concept last year, which supposedly could run in pure electric mode for up to 20 miles and at speeds reaching 75 mph (120 km/h). Basically, you can do short commuter trips of about an hour per day without ever having to burn petrol.
That's pretty amazing, and so is the fuel consumption. On a normal driving cycle, expect somewhere in the region of 3.8 l/100km. Not bad for a car that can still probably do 250 km/h.
All signs point towards a systemic output of 272 PS from a 2-liter turbo engine, helped by an electric motor. That's exactly double the power of a Toyota Prius, so don't expect the eDrive to be slow. Speaking of eDrive, we know this is the name BMW is going to give to a whole new family of powertrains. Our first preview came with an X5 concept last year, which supposedly could run in pure electric mode for up to 20 miles and at speeds reaching 75 mph (120 km/h). Basically, you can do short commuter trips of about an hour per day without ever having to burn petrol.
That's pretty amazing, and so is the fuel consumption. On a normal driving cycle, expect somewhere in the region of 3.8 l/100km. Not bad for a car that can still probably do 250 km/h.
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