Our friends at Autoweek report on the coming battle between BMW’s new luxury plug-in hybrid and it’s primary competition, the Mercedes S550E. There are actually three models of the hybrid 7 series coming out, according to BMW: 740e iPerformance, 740Le iPerformance, and 740e xDrive iPerformance.
According to BMW:
The plug-in hybrid variants of the new BMW 7 Series allow top-level driving pleasure, long-distance comfort and luxury to be experienced in combination with all-electric, locally emission-free mobility as well. The BMW iPerformance Automobiles represent the most rigorous implementation yet of Efficient Dynamics in vehicles from the BMW brand. Both BMW eDrive and the body structure with Carbon Core are rooted in know-how from BMW i. When it comes to charging the high-voltage battery, customers benefit from innovative products and services originally developed for BMW i.
Autoweek reports that BMW’s entries in this category should stiffen competition:
A new kind of BMW 7-Series will go on sale this month, with Bavaria finally fielding a plug-in hybrid competitor that will take on the Mercedes-Benz S550e. BMW has just shared details about its gas-electric flagship, which will make the choice among these two luxobarges a little easier.
The 740e will offer the same hybrid powertrain as found in the BMW X5 xDrive40e, pairing a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder with an electric motor that resides in the eight-speed automatic transmission, which will send power to all four wheels. With an electric-only range of 14 miles, the 740e has been rated at 64 mpg-e by the EPA; by comparison, the S550e will do 12 miles on juice alone and is rated at 58 mpg-e.
Read the Autoweek article here.
Read BMW’s news about the new 7 Series hybrids here.