An X5 you can plug in, and take far

SA LAUNCH: BMW xDrive40e

By Jesse Adams

Johannesburg - Take one X5, add an electric motor, throw a set of batteries and a charging receptacle from an i8 supercar into the mix, and voila... BMW’s new X5 xDrive40e plug-in hybrid is born.

This is the first of a range of plug-ins from BMW (not counting the i8), which recently promised to launch rechargeable hybrid versions of every car in its range within the next few years. Actually, it’s the first in South Africa, as overseas the German brand already has eDrive variants of 7 Series and 2 Series Active Tourer models.

So what exactly is a plug-in hybrid X5?

Basically it’s a normal all-wheel drive X5 SUV in every way, except under the boot floor is a Lithium-ion battery pack feeding an electric motor inside its eight-speed gearbox. With brimmed batteries it’s then possible to drive on pure electric power for up to 31km, at speeds up to 120km/h. The idea is that short trips or work commutes can be done without using any petrol at all – a tasty proposition for anyone whose daily routine involves short distances.

Forget the “40” in its mouthful of a name. There’s no 4.0-litre engine anywhere in this package. Under the hood is a 185kW 2-litre turbopetrol which acts as both a generator to recharge batteries when a special “Save” mode is selected, or to provide propulsion once the batteries have been drained. With electric and petrol motors working in harmony, total system output is 230kW and 450Nm – enough to shove the 2.3 ton vehicle from 0-100km/h in a claimed 6.8 seconds.

And how do it recharge it?

Recharging can be done in a number of ways. Every car comes with a cable and three-pronged plug compatible with any 220V wall socket, but this says BMW, is for occasional use only. Better is to buy a R25 000 iWallbox which can be installed by BMW in your garage for quicker top-ups. Or, it’s possible to recharge at special stations being set up at BMW (and Nissan) dealerships around the country, as well as at popular public locations such as Melrose Arch in Joburg or the Waterfront in Cape Town. Charging times vary, but bank on between 2.5 and four hours depending on the type of recharger used. Public quick charges to 80% take around 40 minutes.

Three clever modes

There are three driving modes selectable via a switch in the centre console: Max eDrive means pure battery power only (again only for around 31km), Auto eDrive means the car decides which combination of electric and battery power is best at any moment, and Battery Save runs on petrol only to simultaneously move the car and recharge batteries. A standard navigation system also works together with the X5’s computers to calculate maximum efficiency for a preset journey.

Does it work?

Yes and no. The plug-in factor makes this otherwise well-rounded SUV a very niche product for a very specific buyer. If a majority of its life will be spent commuting in traffic, then it’s a great solution offering almost unbeatable cost of use. But, it’s not an ideal concept for road tripping families.

BMW claims an average petrol consumption of 3.3 litres per 100km in ideal situations, but at last week’s press launch my car’s trip computer showed well over 10 after the batteries had run dry. That relatively small 2.0 turbo has to work awfully hard lugging around this rather bulky SUV without electric motor assistance.

The bottom line

At a starting price of R1 097 500 it’s also at the more expensive end of BMW’s now seven-strong X5 model range, and it’ll take plenty of electric-mode driving to recoup the R207 000 difference between this and the cheapest xDrive25d variant – which, by the way, averaged 8.8l/100km on a recent road test at this publication.