Fast or frugal BMW X5 40e hybrid isn’t sure

Our BMW X5 40e eDrive arrived on test with 11 litres per 100km glaring at me from the instrument cluster. That’s a long way off the 3.3l/100km claimed by BMW. So is hybrid all hocus pocus?

Let’s dissect the engine specifications of the X5 40e eDrive because frankly that’s the only thing that separates this X5 from its siblings.  Ignore the few eDrive badges and the outside looks identical, sporty even, which makes one question just how serious BMW is about transforming its biggest SUV into a greenie. The contradictions are prevalent  in the low profile rubber on fat alloys and the muscular front bumper which invites a lot of fuel-burning drag. So X5 40e eDrive looks great but perhaps not as groundbreaking as the Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine.

The badges are misleading too. There is no 4.0-litre engine under the hood but one half the size. The 2.0-litre 4-cylinder engine with 180kW and 350Nm is a very economical unit when left to its own devices but paired with the 86kW and 250Nm hybrid system adopted from the BMW i8 is supposed to give it new life.

Hybrid systems service two needs: performance and efficiency. In my experience performance almost always trumps efficiency. So with all the systems working for maximum performance, X5 40e eDrive will do 100km/h in 6.8 seconds – exactly the same as the X5 xDrive 30d. In battery mode alone, top speed is restricted to 120km/h but driven conservatively electric range can be stretched to 30 kilometres. We got close.

If you can bring yourself to deplete the batteries it certainly feels quick but trust me, it’s deeply unsatisfying. You do everything possible to stop that combustion engine from kicking (seamlessly) in. You just do, it’s the hybrid curse where one disgraces himself every time the rev counter jumps into action.

BMW never designed the X5 40e eDrive to be an outright hybrid. Like many brands, BMW had to take existing architecture and modify it around a hybrid powertrain just to ensure that the very tiniest portion of SA’s hybrid market won’t walk to a rival brand. Also, hybrid technology is good for one’s image and ostensibly the only thing we’ll all be driving in ten years’ time.

Which means we’ll need to get used to charging them. Power from a conventional wall socket will charge the X5 40e eDrive up to maximum charge but it makes sense to buy the R25 000 iWallbox which can be installed in your garage and does it a lot quicker. The car does continue to charge the batteries while on the move and one can choose to store the power for suitable occasions – in town or traffic works best.

The somewhat loosely committed approach shows up in good and bad ways.  It steers like a regular fossil-fueled X5 and body lean is tightly contained for a car carrying 150 kilograms of batteries. The brakes have that slight ‘regenerative feel’ or in layman’s terms slightly soggy but in this department X5 40e is more engaging to drive, albeit slower, than its nearest rival the Volvo XC90 T8  Twin Engine. Downsides include a cockpit that doesn’t quite embrace hybrid technology – it never seems to give you enough control or let you know what’s going on in graphic detail. The rest of the cabin is as sophisticated as the drivetrain itself with a plethora of driving aids to go with the cellphone smart app which allows you to do such things as monitor the charging progress.

The problems that X5 40e eDrive faces are not unique to hybrid vehicles which largely overpromise and under deliver. In reality a fuel figure closer to 8l/100km is more realistic in which case the 3.0-litre turbo diesel is quite equal to it and is cheaper to buy. You drive this knowing that due to the rapid progress in battery technology this once revolutionary petrol and hybrid marriage will age quickly. That said, given that BMW has to put a hybrid SUV on its showrooms with the current tools available, it’s a solid effort with quiet fun thrown in the mix.

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