Monday 9 July 2012

BMW DETAILS FIRST HYBRID 3 SERIES, ACTIVEHYBRID 3






True to its promises, BMW has officially announced the new ActiveHybrid 3, at the same time furnishing details thereof. Impressively, the car becomes the most powerful 3 Series (F30) in the range! Moreover, BMW South Africa will sell the car in SA locally as its current flagship while waiting for the brand new 6-cylinder (tri?) turbo M3.


What took us by surprise was that we were expecting this thing to use the company 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo for its petrol side of the powertrain. Instead they’ve gone and raided the ActiveHybrid 5’s closet and installed its systems. So here we have the hard-working 3.0-litre straight six with a single turbo, churning out a nice 225kW of power for the rear wheels, while exterminating 400Nm in torque. Add to the mix is the electric motor, accompanied by a pack of lithium-ion batteries, both worth 40kW and 210Nm. In total the car makes a heady 250kW and 450Nm of pull, just like the ActiveHybrid 5.

And so we are told of a 0 – 100km/h sprint of 5.3 seconds, top whack of 250km/h and average fuel usage of 5.9 litres per 100km. Since this is a full hybrid, BMW reckons it can run on the volts for up to 4km at a time at 75km/h. All this despite a weight penalty of some 135kg, 3 litres smaller fuel tank and 90 litres less luggage space, compared to the normal 335i.

The new BMW ActiveHybrid 3 arrives in Mzansi around October this year. Expect to pay over R600 000 for this car which has no direct competitors in our market. 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

hybrids just don't work man

Anonymous said...

The thing about hybrids is they are never even close to the claimed fuel consumption which is the sole reason why people buy them. Why lie?

Pitso Thobela said...

Did you say 3 turbo M3? Wo!

Soldier Power said...

such power and good fuel? I don't believe it