The BMW ActiveHybrid 3 has been announced, 9 months after the bigger ActiveHybrid 5 Series debuted at the Geneva Motor Show and just 8 weeks after the ActiveHybrid 5 was launched in South Africa
As expected, the latest ActiveHybrid uses the BMW’s 3.0-litre, turbocharged, straight-six, petrol engine, paired with a 40 kW electric motor that’s powered by a high-voltage battery. Together, the engine and motor develop 250 kW and 450 Nm of torque, which is 25 kW and 50 Nm more than the standard engine found in 335i models.
Performance and efficiency have both been improved with the ActiveHybrid 3. BMW’s latest ActiveHybrid model is capable of driving exclusively on electric power for about 4 km and at a maximum speed of 75 km/h. The ActiveHybrid 3 boasts a zero – 100 km/h sprint time of 5.3 seconds (on par with the BMW 640i Coupe) and an electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h. Combined with the 8-speed automatic transmission and BMW’s ‘Eco-Pro’ driving mode, the ActiveHybrid 3 is able to return an average fuel consumption figure of just 5.9 L/100km and 139 g/km of CO2.
The Eco-Pro mode activates a ‘coasting function’ which, at speeds of up to 160 km/h, the engine is turned off and fully decoupled from the transmission, allowing the car to coast along using momentum already built up. An engine stop/start function adds further gains in efficiency, while the satellite navigation system works with the electronics to analyse the driving route and set various drive components to deliver maximum efficiency.
The new BMW ActiveHybrid 3 will go on sale in South Africa in the last quarter of 2012. Pricing hasn’t been announced just yet, but expect a figure not far off the R600 000 mark.
