BMW gives the 7-series an electric boost with the ActiveHybrid 7, but the diesel engines better it in every way
This is a petrol-electric BMW 7-series. BMW shifted 1400 7-series models in the UK last year. Tellingly, 91 per cent of those were diesels. Seemingly even those with pockets deep enough to be buying a luxury saloon with a starting price of just under £60,000 are feeling the pinch enough to head for the black pump.The ActiveHybrid 7 fills an uncomfortable niche, then. Its combined 3.0-litre in-line six-cylinder petrol engine and 40kW electric motor offer the same 5.7sec 0-62mph time and electronically limited 155mph top speed of the TwinPower 3.0-litre straight six 740i, yet it costs more than its conventionally powered relation. It’ll take many thousands of miles to recoup the £5000 difference too, with a 41.5mpg combined fuel consumption figure only 5.7mpg better than that of the 740i.Add the diesels into the equation and the ActiveHybrid 7’s case gets even more shaky, with the 730d and 740d able to offer 50mpg consumption and sub-150g/km CO2 emissions. They can't cruise around town for around two to three miles on pure electric power, though, which is something BMW claims the ActiveHybrid 7 can do. You’ll need to be an absolute puritan with the accelerator if you’re to achieve that, however, as the 3.0-litre six is all too quick to join in to help shift the near-two-tonne Bavarian barge if you more than brush the right pedal. There’s no push-button EV mode to help, either, meaning the ActiveHybrid 7’s silent party trick is both hard-won and infrequent.
BMW gives the 7-series an electric boost with the ActiveHybrid 7, but the diesel engines better it in every way
This is a petrol-electric BMW 7-series. BMW shifted 1400 7-series models in the UK last year. Tellingly, 91 per cent of those were diesels. Seemingly even those with pockets deep enough to be buying a luxury saloon with a starting price of just under £60,000 are feeling the pinch enough to head for the black pump.The ActiveHybrid 7 fills an uncomfortable niche, then. Its combined 3.0-litre in-line six-cylinder petrol engine and 40kW electric motor offer the same 5.7sec 0-62mph time and electronically limited 155mph top speed of the TwinPower 3.0-litre straight six 740i, yet it costs more than its conventionally powered relation. It’ll take many thousands of miles to recoup the £5000 difference too, with a 41.5mpg combined fuel consumption figure only 5.7mpg better than that of the 740i.Add the diesels into the equation and the ActiveHybrid 7’s case gets even more shaky, with the 730d and 740d able to offer 50mpg consumption and sub-150g/km CO2 emissions. They can't cruise around town for around two to three miles on pure electric power, though, which is something BMW claims the ActiveHybrid 7 can do. You’ll need to be an absolute puritan with the accelerator if you’re to achieve that, however, as the 3.0-litre six is all too quick to join in to help shift the near-two-tonne Bavarian barge if you more than brush the right pedal. There’s no push-button EV mode to help, either, meaning the ActiveHybrid 7’s silent party trick is both hard-won and infrequent.