BMW iPerformance, Anything New or Just Addressing CAFE?

G. David Felt · May 20, 2016

G. David Felt
Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com

Last year BMW announced their iPerformance line of auto's using the eDrive moniker. This allowed them to have a line of auto's either pure EV or plug-in hybrid sitting between the M and standard petro auto's they make. This July 2016 iPerformance Line of auto's will be available with their eDrive system. The following models are making up the iPerformance line which currently makes the i3 and i8.

New Models:

225xe Active Tour

330e

X5 xDrive40e

740e xDrive

740Le xDrive

330e Specs:

184 hp four-cylinder petrol engine and 65 kW, 88 hp, 250 Nm electric motor integrated into the housing of the eight-speed automatic
total system output of 185 kW/252 hp (on par with 330i and 330d)
0–60 mph in 6.1 seconds with a top speed of 140 mph.
all-electric range of up to 40 km (25 miles) NEDC and 14 miles (22.5 km) US EPA
7.6 kWh lithium-ion battery beneath the boot floor
charging in 3 hours and 15 minutes from a household outlet
average fuel consumption (combined) of 2.1–1.9 litres/100 km (134.5–148.7 mpg imp)
at least 370 liters of luggage compartment volume; the rear seat offer a 40:20 40 split
EU-empty weight of 1735 kg (3,825 lbs)

740e Specs:

254 hp four-cylinder petrol turbocharged engine and an electric motor integrated into the housing of the eight-speed automatic giving a total HP of 326 with an average mpg of 112.

So now that BMW has committed an extensive lineup of EV / Plug-in hybrids to the company auto portfolio, this makes one wonder if this is to address cafe issues, government regulations or customer demands or a bit of all three? By 2018 BMW has stated that all 5 models will be out.

We have the lone plug-in hybrid at Cadillac, a few at BMW and of course announcements at others from Mercedes-benz to Audi and the hybrids already on the lots at Lexus as well as others.

So this has me wondering just how fast a changeover will take place and if the governments around the world are going to push to move to a default plug-in hybrid with pure EV and petrol performance auto's bracketing the top and bottom of the new auto line up.

So what are your thoughts on this new division that is based in the UK? Is the division really needed? Will the push force auto companies to drop more petrol only models and move to plug-in hybrids faster? Does CAFE have to be so high and if so will it only get super high as they push the hybrids into triple digits? How soon will we see hybrids out sell petrol models? Will truck buyers embrace a pure EV truck or hybrid truck?

So many questions and so few answers, but let the discussion begin and sound off on what you think of this!

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