MOTORING
BMW 3-Series 330E
Take a good look at the pictures of the best selling BMW 3-Series and see if you can notice any difference , probably the answer is no there isn ’ t anything different but this particular derivative is the 330E and a BMW plug-in hybrid . If you notice the front near side wing there is what appears to be a petrol filler flap , that is the giveaway , this is where you can plug in the vehicle to transform it from petrol to electric mode . In fact there is little else to differentiate this from a conventional 3-Series . The very small discreet E-Drive badge on the rear pillar is a further giveaway . This E-drive will be appearing soon on quite a few more vehicles within the mighty BMW empire , writes Bob Hickman .
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The big advantage of this new hybrid technology for BMW is the CO2 emissions are reduced to a mere 44 g / km , so if you are a company car driver the benefit in kind taxation will be less than half as a conventional 320D and this seriously is impressive . However the benefit in kind comes at a price , the hybrid 3-Series is considerably more than its petrol and diesel derivatives .
BMW has employed a set of lithium iron cell batteries and they have placed them under the boot floor so there is a slight reduction capacity but not sufficient to worry about . The batteries provide power to an 87bhp electric motor which is situated within the gearbox casing . This gives an extremely alien concept because the vehicle suddenly becomes a silent vehicle , to drive on pure battery power is somewhat disconcerting initially but you soon become used to it . Add in the 182bhp petrol and you have a vehicle that gives tremendous thrust and motive power through an 8-speed gearbox .
BMW purists will be pleased to note that the new hybrid derivative is still rear wheel drive , in electric mode the vehicle still retains its BMW characteristics and will still give excellent driver response , it meanders silently and relatively speedily in pure electric mode when in the city , but give the throttle accelerator a quick tap and instantly the traction control disables and the entertaining factor of engine power kicks in and you have a vehicle that is very responsive .
The 3-Series has nearly 250bhp at its disposal when you add together both the petrol and electric motors . There are 3 modes to choose from , you can go pure electric , choose to maximise between the two or you can have a battery save , dial the factors in and the cars electronic brain works out for you . The battery capacity for mileage seems to be about 25 miles in pure battery mode which possibly doesn ’ t seem a great deal but lets not forget this is not a pure hybrid that you are dependant and reliant on battery power , it is quite easy to allow the vehicle to drift along in battery