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O/T : My first Hybrid

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In a mix of professional development and the natural cycle of getting bored of even great cars I let go of my daily - E60 MSport 535D - quaife differ and DMS remapped weapon. Living in a city even in a high rise it's hard to keep a clear conscience even with a scrubbed euro lev 5 diesel. It is my prediction that inner Manchester will become diesel free to private vehicles within 5 years and that within the M60 emissions charging will be the norm within a decade. I am not going to go too much into the dubious politics of all this and as Supercar owners we have all no doubt have well rehearsed arguments against the Toyota Pious owner trotting out their well rehearsed virtue signals. Having done and been part of the analysis I can assure you that of all the Ferrari's in existence VAG will produce more lifecycle carbon in a years golf production than the entire Ferrari Fleet will do in their lifetime. Old Ferrari's don't end up in land fill and aluminium is infinitely recyclable for 25% of the make new energy anyway. Also the hybrid LIFECYCLE energy and emissions equation doesn't really work until you get well above 40mpg for a normal American avg. annual mileage of 15k. (So your low mileage Ferrari again trumps the econo-box. So rest assured my quest is different. Having wanted to get back to petrol but look virtuous vs. BE virtuous I was seeking a unicorn car - the performance hybrid - like the P1 and the LaF I want my electric power to supplement my petrol power and so I taxed my first 'alternative fuel' car the BMW Active Hybrid 3.
On paper it just tips into the virtuous side of the magic >40mpg but even day one - driving from Norwich back to Manchester proves that will be a challenge. On paper it looks like a slightly more frugal 335i whose extra weight from the battery and hybrid system nullified any performance gains from what eBoost (as BM
W call it) gives. From 0-60 they claim the same times but my pre-arrranged meet with a 335i owner has proved that to be slightly disengenuos and over a quarter of a mile the Duracell enhanced car spanks it even with my sizeable frame aboard. I will be documenting my experiences but I can see the future of supercars already and cannot wait for when Ferrari do KERS on their products. So far driving on electric only mode around town is strangely addictive.
Thoughts and questions below...
We need to tailor hybrid to suit enthusiasts BMW have definitely taken a step here.
PS forget the new 330e that is a whole other thing.
 
I'd be fascinated to see a true end to end environmental impact assessment on lets say a 330i, 330d and yours, including the environmental impact of production, i.e. building lovely batteries, and the eventual disposal. I also wonder how much the fuel we burn actually contributes to the overall environmental impact of our cars!?

As we never see this type of information I suspect it is something the "industry" doesn't want us to see, and the gov is too blinkered to look at; in the same way they have ignored the issues associated with diesels, that have been know about for decades.

That said, there is no denying the shear acceleration of an electric car; having recently been thoroughly left for dust in my 520d by an I3, and mean really left for dust!

Enjoy the car. Just remember to trade it in the day before the warranty on the battery runs out. Would they tell you the cost of replacement batteries?
 
last things first - yes the car is a three year old certified pre-owned car (CPO) interestingly battery condition is part of the CPO process - specifically is it capable of achieving and holding a 100% charge. Anyone who has driven / owned a hybrid will know this fluctuates in use way more than you think it would. In a performance hybrid like the AH3 it's easy to top up. Just select sport or sport+ for a few miles and you are soon topped up. The battery on all EU supplied BMW hybrids has a cast iron no questions warranty for six years and it's extendable. Also hybrid battery repair and refurbishment is now a thing at least in the USA and soon here. I have seen the work on total lifecycle emissions and I can tell you from memory that manufacturing accounts (for the regular family car) for circa 30% of the goal lifecycle carbon emissions for a normal ICE car. It's 35% for the Hybrid, 40% for the plug in hybrid, and 45% for the 100% EV. Manufacturers are aware of this argument and it's why for example a solar array is going in on the Toyota factory at Derby and they are putting wind turbines up at Nissan. The battery manufacture is of course the elephant in this room for sure BUT I tried to hint in the first post that STILL the case is clear over the full life of the car that the overall net emissions ARE lower for electric and hybrid as long as we are talking average mileage of 12-15k per year AND getting 40mpg +. Any less and the case for electric in any form is diminished. The fuel you burn contributes accordingly so e.g. 70% of lifecycle emissions in a normal ICE car.


Mazda have just really put the cat amongst the pigeons with their new sky active HCCI (High Comoression Combustion Ignition) petrol engine that just got the petrol ICE a 20% efficiency leap from good old petrol and can meet eurolev withiut cats such is the completeness of the burn.

I can see Ferrari and lambo licensing this tech pretty soon as its tech already draws upon knock-sensing approaches developed by the Scuderia

The issues related to diesels were wellknown but the EU sought to protect its industry where diesel tech is very strong here - they actively encouraged the movement to diesel but then we were only measuring CO2 overall whereas now it's ALL the natives that come out the exhaust.

520e plug-in hybrid will become the new 520d for sure.
 
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Agreed....

I've had a look at these and now fancy an ActiveHybrid 7 as my retiro-barge :thumbsup:


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Mike01606 said:
Agreed....

I've had a look at these and now fancy an ActiveHybrid 7 as my retiro-barge :thumbsup:


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Friend sold one recently. Bought it new for £102k in 2014, traded in for £25k with 24,000 miles...I drove it a few times and it was a nice car but the newer 7's (2015 on) are now creeping into the mid-£30's and I'd rather have a new model which has a much nicer and more luxurious interior.
 
No probs. I do realise such a car is not of much interest to the typical petrolhead here :)

It wasn't to me either - until I drove one :grin:
 
Just some more updates.

Really had a chance to rag the car in sport mode today. Performance is pretty Ballistic and it's light on its toes being in MSport trim. I am glad of the MSport brake upgrade as this was a definite weakness in my old 535d.
Mpg avg. is still good and my son in particularly can really max the eDrive on his daily commute. If anything you wish the eDrive was even more powerful than its 60hp and I would gladly trade another 50mm of boot space for more battery. Today I switched on all the BMW connected drive services and although some are a bit gimmicky - I think BMW's claim to be the most connected car company is justified. The only big disappointment is the WIFI hotspot functionality which would be great BUT it's only 3G. This is the sort of thing that should be instantly upgradable but isn't. Will keep a look out for anyone doing upgrades / coding independently.
 
To me, the most interesting thing about this thread is this thread - that posters on a real petrolheads forum are discussing eco vehicles with enthusiasm. Has the bad ethnic minority got religion? Maybe so.
 
I think it shows that a certain kind of Hybrid (i.e. Performance orientated) can be very much enjoyed by enthusiasts and also shift emissions from dirty diesels in cities to power stations and remove the most harmful pollutants from our citizens.

Is there ANY Ferrari model that won't be a hybrid in the next generation of each platform?
 
Will be moot as soon as Ferrari start with their plans...

"Innovation in product development is in our blood and we will continue to push boundaries. This is why we are now working hard on bringing hybrid technology to our product range in the coming years. But rest assured, we will introduce new technology in the “Ferrari way”, so that it serves to enhance the driving emotion we are known for."

I wish the 488 had been a hybrid rather than a turbo...

As long as they stay below the magic number of 10k cars the future should be bright.
 
I just love the view that it will become a zero emissions zone; thus increasing the emissions where the energy to charge the batteries comes from!
 
A348W said:
I just love the view that it will become a zero emissions zone; thus increasing the emissions where the energy to charge the batteries comes from!
Click to expand...

From a public health perspective that's the logical thing to do.

Move the emissions to where there are less people.

Improve population health
 
Has anyone ever tried to park in Oxford ??? They dont like cars so most drivers wouldnt go there even if they were paid, so any ban will have minimal impact :laugh:
 
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