First Drive: 2010 BMW ActiveHybrid X6

November 25, 2009

2010 BMW ActiveHybrid X6. Click image to enlarge

In our drive around Miami, try as we might with practiced right feet, neither I nor my co-pilot, Autos assistant editor Jil McIntosh, could get the X6 to travel up to 60 km/h in electric-only mode, nor were we able to travel very far at any speed without the engine resuming. We also noted that demands from the climate control system to keep the cabin cool in the 29 degree Celsius heat sometimes prevented shut down even at stop lights. However, shutdown while decelerating normally occurred around 60 km/h.

Electricity is stored in a high voltage Nickel Metal Hydride battery that uses liquid cooling, an external heat exchanger and interaction with the vehicle’s air conditioning system to maintain its cool. It is located under the cargo floor. The electric motors, electromechanical steering and electric climate compressor draw power from the high performance battery, while a central electronic control unit converts power from high voltage direct current to three-phase alternating current and controls the interaction of all the bits that make up the hybrid powertrain.

Excess power from the engine and kinetic energy generated by the brakes, which is normally lost as heat, keep the battery charged. While BMW claims the brakes in their hybrids behave no differently than any other BMW, we noted that the brakes in our car felt hybrid typical, that is, providing excellent stopping power, but in a somewhat insensitive manner.

2010 BMW ActiveHybrid X6. Click image to enlarge

With 260 kg (573 lb.) of assorted hybrid gear distributed evenly about the car, weight distribution is largely unaffected. The suspension is essentially the same as that found on the X6 50i except for a slightly modified rear axle.

Performance is spectacular, running the clock from zero to 100 km/h in 5.6 seconds. But of course, this is the same zero to 100 km/h number as the X6 50i. The more powerful hybrid has to move all that extra weight so, on this measure, there is no performance benefit. Although we weren’t able to test it, BMW claims that from 80 km/h to 120 km/h, the hybrid offers a five per cent advantage over the 50i, and with a zero fuel consumption penalty, the added acceleration being due completely to the output of the electric motors. Top speed is electronically limited to 236 km/h or 250 km/h with an optional sport package.

While option packages in Canada have not been announced yet, equipment levels are expected to be similar to that offered in the X6 50i with such standard features as comfort seats, navigation system, park distance control and bi-xenon adaptive headlights. Our “Bluewater Metallic” testers, the only colour available for BMW hybrids, were equipped with optional nappa leather upholstery in an exclusive ivory white/black colour combination.

Canadian prices were also not yet available, but will be announced before the 2010 ActiveHybrid X6 goes on sale December 6th. Expect it to begin just shy of $100,000 or about the same as the X6 M.

While the ActiveHybrid X6 is more fuel efficient than the X6 50i (with a Canadian Energuide rating of 11.6 L/100 km in combined city/highway compared to 12.5 L/100 km), buyers will be paying a $20,000 premium to save seven per cent on fuel. Unless you plan on owning your ActiveHybrid for the next century, that’s a sum you will never recover through fuel savings.

If you really want to save fuel, emissions and money, the choice is obvious, buy smaller. But if you’re the kind of person who just has to have the most advanced technology money can buy and the most powerful hybrid available, BMW wants to talk to you.

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