A new 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 happens to be a hybrid that will never remind you of a Prius in virtually any shape or form. When you think of hybrids, you think of fuel efficiency but this BMW hybrid is absolutely not that fuel efficient. The 2011 ActiveHybrid 7 is actually the most fuel-efficient of the 7-series model, but its power steering is shut down by the idle stop feature, and it doesn’t work well in stop-and-go traffic. It can do a good job of incorporating raw car power with the fuel efficiency of hybrid technology but there are some quirks that get in the way.
Any additional energy that is supplied by a hybrid system is normally used by most automakers to have a smaller gasoline engine, but not BMW. BMW made a decision to use the extra power produced by the electric motor to make the car go even faster instead of using it to reduce fuel consumption. The 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 has got the same engine, a twin turbo direct-injection 4.4-liter V-8, as the standard BMW 750i. The only difference is the electric power motor that’s powered by the 120-volt lithium ion battery pack. This makes the gasoline economy of the ActiveHybrid 7 much better than the 750i, and with a lot more horsepower in addition. This of course provides more than BMW 525i series.
Numerous hybrids are able to switch to all-electric mode however the ActiveHybrid 7 does not do that. It is just like the Integrated Motor Assist System of the Honda, where it creates boost when it is quickening, and when it stops it lets the engine turn off. When you may be in the driver’s seat, you won’t even know that you are in a hybrid, but it has a blue area in the fuel gauge, which shows when the car is having electricity regenerated by its momentum. When the car stops at a traffic light, you will know that it is a hybrid, by the engine going soundless and the tach needle drops to zero. As soon as you take the foot off the brake, the engine comes back on smoothly which is impressive considering the size of the engine.
The idle stop set up is pretty impressive if you are at a traffic light but it can’t be the same when you are stuck in stop-and-go traffic. It is nice to have the engine shut down as you sit there stopped, nevertheless it becomes a nuisance when it shuts down for 5 seconds at a time, and this takes some getting used to. The performance of the car may also take some getting used to because it has a tendency to lunge forward even with a slight tap on the accelerator. It could possibly sound green calling this automobile a hybrid, however the added horsepower and not fuel efficiency is what this hybrid system has done.
The 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 has the very best gas mileage in the BMW 7 series family however it only gets 20 miles per gallon. Great for the deluxe vehicle it is, but nothing breathtaking for a hybrid. Most hope we can see ActiveHybrid in BMW 525i and different BMW leasing in the near future?