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BMW Concept X5 eDrive hybrid gives the Prius a run for your money

Move over Range Rover Hybrid. BMW has just unveiled a new X5 plug-in hybrid with better fuel economy than a Toyota Prius. And yes, it’s a 4×4.

The BMW Concept X5 eDrive hybrid, to give it its full title, is powered by a four-cylinder twin-scroll turbocharged combustion engine driving the front wheels and a 70kW/95hp electric motor hooked up to a lithium-ion battery pack driving the rears.

The pair work together to help return a whopping 74.3mpg on the EU test cycle with CO2 emissions of ‘under 90g/km’. A new Prius, for reference, gets 72.4mpg and 89g/km. The Range Rover Hybrid gets a mere 44.1mpg and 168g/km.

The BMW Concept X5 eDrive hybrid bests its Japanese eco buddy in other areas, too. The car has several driving modes, selectable via a dial, including an all-electric setting. It’s lithium-ion battery pack is large enough to allow the vehicle to be driven on electric power alone for a total of 19 miles and at speeds of up to 75mph.

The battery can be recharged from the mains or via the vehicle’s regenerative braking system.

The X5 hybrid’s default ECO Pro driving mode switches between petrol, electric or uses a combination of both depending on the driver’s throttle input, road conditions or the profile of the route you’ve programmed into the sat-nav.

With the petrol engine driving the front wheels and the electric motor driving the rear, the BMW X5 Concept eDrive offers all the advantages of a 4×4, with extra traction in inclement weather. That said, we’re willing to bet it uses nanny-pamby low rolling resistance tyres, so its probably best not to take the thing too far off road.

We’ll have more details regarding the hybrid X5 when it’s shown off at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show.

BMW X5 Hybrid pictures




 

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