I’ve become quite a big fan of hybrid cars, especially the hybrids that emphasize sportiness yet still get excellent gas mileage. You can read my review of the Acura RLX hybrid here, I had a great week driving that car at high speeds and yet consumed very little fuel (for a car that size).
On the sporty note, BMW cars are supposed to be very fun to drive and the 3 Series is their best selling car, so the German car maker has decided to introduce the BMW 330e. A plug-in hybrid that will save you money at the pump, pollute the environment less, and still be fun to drive.
The BMW 330e is equipped with a 65 kW electric motor placed at the front of the transmission, assisting the 2.0 liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. The combined output from both motors is 248 horsepower (252 PS) and 310 pound-feet (420 Nm) of torque. Power is sent to the rear wheels via an 8-speed automatic transmission, helping the 330e reach 62 mph (100 km/h) in 6.1 seconds wiht a top speed of 140 mph (225 km/h).
The BMW 330e consumes between 1.9 to 2.1 liters/100 km, which translates to between 112 and 124 mpg, on the European cycle. The miles per gallon would be a bit less on the US cycle, but it’s still a pretty impressive number if it can be achieved in real world driving. The 330e can be driven in electric-only mode for up to 25 miles (40 kilometers) at speeds of up to 75 mph (120 km/h). The batteries also don’t take that long to charge, on a standard 120V outlet, it takes 3.25 hours to fully charge the batteries and on a 240V outlet, it takes about 2 hours to charge the 7.6 kWh lithium-ion battery pack.
So far BMW hasn’t released pricing information and whether the 330e will be available in North America.
