The 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 Compared to The Toyota Prius: They Are Not The Same
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012A new 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 is really a hybrid that will never remind you of a Prius in every shape or form. Fuel efficiency is the thing that you think of when you think hybrid nevertheless the BMW hybrid is not that fuel efficient. The 2011 ActiveHybrid 7 is actually the most fuel-efficient of the 7-series model, but its power steering is turned off by the idle stop feature, and it doesn’t work well in stop-and-go traffic. It is a great advancement in motor vehicle technology but its quirkiness when driving can get annoying.
The extra power that is provided by a hybrid system is normally used by most automakers to have a smaller gasoline engine, but not BMW. Most hybrids minimize fuel costs while maintaining power, but BMW saw the extra power, and decided to make their cars go faster. Like the standard BMW 750i, the 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 has a twin turbo direct-injection 4.4-liter V-8 engine. The only real variation is the inclusion of an electric motor than gets its power from a 120-volt lithium ion battery pack. This makes the fuel economy of the ActiveHybrid 7 much better than the 750i, and with a lot more horsepower in addition. It also provides more than BMW 525i series.
Many hybrids have the ability to switch to all-electric mode even so the ActiveHybrid 7 does not do that. It is just like the Integrated Motor Assist System of the Honda, where it adds boost when it is accelerating, and when it stops it lets the engine shut down. If driving, there will be no idea that it is a hybrid barring when you see a blue are in the fuel monitor to show that electricity is being regenerated. But when you arrive at a stop, you will feel the engine go silent and the tach needle go to zero. Despite the size of the engine, the vehicle starts up very smoothly when you take the foot off the brake pedal.
The idle stop platform is somewhat 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 stop running as you sit there stopped, but it becomes a nuisance when it shuts down for 5 seconds at a time, and this takes some getting used to. In addition, it takes getting used to the level of power, because the vehicle lunges frontward with the slightest touch of the accelerator. This does not appear to be a very eco-friendly car but the goal of this hybrid is to add power more than improve fuel efficiency.
Any time you visualize a hybrid, you think of fuel efficiency, and even though the 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 is more efficient that the standard BMW 7-series, it only gets around 20 miles per gallon. While that is wonderful for a luxury sport vehicle that is not all that much for a hybrid. We believe we will likely discover ActiveHybrid in BMW 525i and alternative BMW leasing in the near future?