2012 BMW ActiveHybrid 5 - Instrumented Test - Car and Driver (blog)
So, to dip a toe in hybrid waters, in 2005 BMW joined with GM, Mercedes-Benz, and Chrysler to develop the two-mode system combining one engine, two electric motors, and some clever use of planetary gearsets. Combined with the not-fish-or-fowl X6 hatchback body, BMW’s first hybrid arrived at the end of 2009 with a dear price, a poorly defined mission, and no customers scrambling to own one. But the X6 stopgap did give BMW engineers the chance to regroup with a more legitimate hybrid powertrain, one with legs capable of carrying this initiative well into the future. That would be the ActiveHybrid system that hit the U. S. market earlier this year. It’s a one-size-fits-many lash-up—a turbocharged 3. 0-liter six followed in tandem by an AC motor and an eight-speed ZF transmission—offered in 3- , 5-, and 7-series sedans. Leave it to BMW to create a genuinely elegant hybrid drive system. A pancake-shaped 54-hp AC motor supplants the torque converter between the engine and transmission. The engine peaks at an even 300 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque, and factoring in the electric motor yields a system maximum of 335 hp and 330 lb-ft. Source: www.caranddriver.com
