Paul Tan's Automotive News

The BMW ActiveHybrid X6 is truly mind-boggling. It’s an SUV, but the sloping roofline and two seats at the back kind of limit its utility and storage space. And it’s a hybrid which people usually associate with economy, yet its mated to a massive V8 twin turbocharged engine. There is not one but two electric motors, and the vehicle ends up having more torque than the BMW X6 M, a full 100Nm more to be exact.

The V8 motor puts out 407 horses, while the two electric motors make 91 horses and 86 horses respectively. All three propulsion devices running at the same time produces a peak 485 horses, with a massive peak torque of 780Nm.

This not only makes the X6 M the most powerful hybrid ever, but its also the most torquey BMW ever, beating the 760Li’s 750Nm by 30Nm. Only the upcoming BMW-built Rolls-Royce Ghost’s 6.6 liter V12 engine equals the ActiveHybrid X6′s 780Nm. 0 to 100km/h takes just 5.6 seconds, the car puts out 231g/km of CO2, while fuel consumption on the EU5 cycle is 9.9 liters per 100km.

Interestingly, BMW says this vehicle uses a 7-speed automatic transmission. Since when does BMW have a 7-speed automatic, other than the DCT and M DCT systems? This is not a conventional gearbox, as BMW says the transmission is “provided by the electric motors”.

It is an e-CVT, which is quite similiar to how the Prius’s e-CVT is also not a real transmission but instead is the result of the car’s two electric motors working together with various other components. Like the Prius too, one motor acts mostly as a generator while the other motor actually drives the vehicle. The two motors linked by three planetary gearsets are able to provide 7 different ratios.

The ActiveHybrid X6 can also run on an EV mode, which means on the motors only, at speeds of up to 60km/h for distances of up to 2.5km. Of course for EV mode the car must be driven gently – step on it abit more than the threshold and the V8 springs to life to provide you with the acceleration that the car thinks you need. Of course like any other hybrid it has a auto start-stop feature.

Unlike the ActiveHybrid 7-Series which uses lithium ion batteries, the ActiveHybrid X6 uses NiMH batteries and they are positioned beneath the floor of the luggage compartment. The batteries are liquid cooled with a heat exchanger that is cooled via outside air flow and also optionally through the air conditioning cooling circuits, depending on the cooling requirements needed.

Look after the jump for loads of hi-res photos of the new X6 hybrid.
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BMW now has a competitor for the S400 BlueHybrid – the new BMW ActiveHybrid 7. The ActiveHybrid 7 (available in both F01 and F02 longwheelbase bodies, with the long wheelbase called the BMW ActiveHybrid 7L) uses a mild hybrid system, also sometimes called a motor assist system.

Basically the V8 engine and 8-speed ZF automatic transmission is assisted by a three-phase synchronous electric motor weighing 23kg to give a peak output of 465 horses and 700Nm of torque. The electric motor (20 horses and 210Nm of torque) is positioned between the V8 and the 8-speeder’s torque converter, and receives power from a 35 cell 400wH lithium ion battery, which can also be recharged by the motor via brake energy regeneration.

This lithium ion battery measures 370mm by 220mm by 230mm and weighs 27kg, and is housed in the luggage compartment between the wheel arches, protected by a high-strength casing. Basically BMW had to remove the air-conditioning compressor for the rear aircond vents to make space for the battery.

0 to 100km/h takes 4.9 seconds, while EU test cycle fuel consumption is rated at 9.4 liters per 100km. CO2 emissions have been measured at 219g/km. Not exactly figures that will make greenheads drool but being an enthusiast I’m quite interested in experiencing the kind of pulling power that a high torque turbocharged engine and an inherently torquey electric motor can give.

The ActiveHybrid 7 also features automatic start-stop, which is said to be a first on a BMW equipped with an automatic transmission. Auto start-stop has been available for quite sometime now as part of their EfficientDynamics program but have previously been available only on manual transmission models.

The air conditioning and other systems remain fully operational whenever the engine is off, however being a mild hybrid system the car will not move with the V8 engine turned off – it will only turn off when you come to a stop. The air conditioning system can also be activated remotely via the remote control to cool down the car sufficiently before you get into the car.

Look after the jump for a full hi-res gallery and a video of the new BMW ActiveHybrid 7.
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