The world is coming to Germany and BMW will greet them at the front door with more battery power than ever before.
Joining the ever-growing electrified line-up at BMW’s stand at the Frankfurt Motor Show will be a plug-in hybrid version of the 3-Series, dubbed the 330e, and an all-wheel drive plug-in hybrid version of the 2-Series Active Tourer.
While the 330e remains a dedicated rear-wheel drive four-door sedan, the 225xe will not just be a stand-alone model, but it will preview one of the key powertrains planned for the X1 and for the upcoming X2.
225xe
While the bodyshell of the 225xe remains perhaps the least athletic of the entire BMW range, it takes its powertrain inspiration from BMW’s bravest shape, the i8, effectively taking its combination of electric and petrol motors and turning them around.
As previewed in a prototype drive in France a couple of months ago, the 225xe will feature a 1.5-litre, three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine across the front wheels and a shrunken version of the i3's electric motor driving the rear wheels.
The system gives the 225xe effective on-demand all-wheel drive, which is why BMW is keen to get it into its UKL architecture-based X models, and Mini’s Cooper and next Countryman, as soon as it can. Plus, there is no longer a mechanical link between the front and rear axles, with each motor simply driving the axle closest to it.
Combined, the two power plants give the 225xe the ability to sprint to 100km/h in a respectable 6.7 seconds and reach a top end of 202km/h. On the flip side, it puts up an NEDC figure of 2.0 litres/100km for CO2 emissions of just 46 grams/km.
It can drive on pure electric power at speeds of up to 125km/h, while it posts an official EU pure-electric range figure of 41km from a fully charged lithium-ion battery.
The five-door, five-seater tips in at 1,660kg on the DIN scale – 150kg heavier than the 225i xDrive thanks to its extra battery, gearbox, electronic control unit and electric motor.
The car boasts a system output of 165kW of power and 385Nm of torque, with 100kW and 200Nm of that coming via the three-cylinder, direct-injection turbo motor and channelled through a six-speed automatic transmission. There’s also a 15kW generator, which acts as the car’s front-end electric harvester and its starter motor, as well as adding its own power to the gearbox under hard acceleration in Sport mode.
Two-speed transmission
The oddness happens at the rear of the car, which is (unusually for a UKL-chassis) where 54 per cent of the mass is. The rear packaging includes its 7.7kW/h lithium-ion battery sitting beneath one side of the rear seat and a 36-litre petrol tank beneath the other side (and it’s metal rather than plastic, to manage the probability that it could remain full and untapped for months on end).
The 65kW/165Nm electric motor sits in a transaxle package behind the rear axle with its own two-speed transmission. There’s also a generator (for harvesting braking energy) and the new control electronics. It’s a smaller, more compact motor than even the one in the i3.
It’s effectively a rear-wheel drive car when the car is running in its pure electric mode, punching through the two-speed transmission. When it’s in Charge or Hold modes, it’s a front-wheel drive car running through the six-speed transmission and when it’s in Sport mode, it’s all cogs on deck.
Its Samsung batteries help it to operate as an electric car at speeds of up to 125km/h in both EcoPro and in the electric eDrive modes, though the default hybrid mode switches the electric motor off at 85km/h because it’s more efficient at speed as a petrol-powered machine.
The most difficult piece of engineering, BMW admits, was the Sport mode, which sees the car running as a hybrid, with both motors and transmissions working at different ends of the car, doing different things in different gears and trying not to deliver a hint of a seam or a moderate disagreement.
330e
The other car that’s had the zap treatment is now the cleanest 3-Series money can buy, which doesn’t mean it’s slow. BMW still claims a 0-100km/h time of 6.1 seconds for the 330e, along with a 225km/h top speed.
It also claims an NEDC cycle fuel economy figure of just 1.9 to 2.1 litres/100km and an EU emissions rating for CO2 of 44 grams/km.
Unlike its little 225xe stablemate, the 330e isn’t an all-wheel drive plug-in hybrid; it’s a dedicated rear-wheel drive car, all the time.
Emission-free range
Like the 225xe, it starts as a pure electric car, with the hybrid Auto eDrive as the default mode and sticking with battery power alone at up to 80km/h. There’s also Max eDrive, which lifts the top electrically powered speed to 120km/h and delivers between 37km and 40km of emission-free range on the NEDC cycle.
There’s a mode to save your battery power to run on petrol power alone (on a highway leading to a city, for example) and even in Max eDrive, a solid thump through the accelerator pedal’s détente will fire up the petrol engine for added acceleration.
The 330e combines a TwinPower 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged petrol motor with a synchronous electric motor wedged inside the eight-speed automatic transmission.
The 2.0-litre motor boasts a twin-scroll turbocharger, direct fuel injection, variable valve timing and lift and a host of other trick features. They’re enough to deliver it 135kW of power between 5000 and 6500rpm, plus 290Nm of torque, which peaks at just 1350rpm.