BMW to add plug-in hybrid X5 crossover variant

Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey – The BMW X5 xDrive40e, the company’s first plug-in hybrid crossover, will be in U.S. showrooms by the fall of 2015.

To be built at BMW’s Spartanburg, South Carolina, plant, the X5 xDrive40e combines a 2L turbocharged four-cylinder engine with an electric motor, powered by a lithium-ion battery, integrated into its 8-speed automatic transmission.

The crossover can travel approximately 13 miles on pure electric power. Working in concert, the gasoline engine and electric motor puts out 308hp and produces 332 lb-ft of torque, enough for 0mph to 60mph in 6.5 seconds.

Early preliminary estimates put US EPA mileage estimates at 55 miles per gallon equivalents (MPGe), federal standard for the combined gasoline/electricity fuel efficiency of plug-in vehicles.

The BMW X5 xDrive40e is the first plug-in hybrid production model from the core BMW brand. Its lithium-ion high-voltage battery pack can be topped up from any 120V/15 amp electrical outlet or from the BMW Charging Station. The high-voltage battery, which also supplies power to the battery for the 12V electrical system via a voltage transformer, is housed underneath the luggage compartment floor, where it is protected in the event of a crash.

The BMW X5 xDrive40e is being produced in Spartanburg where BMW also makes the non-hybrid X5, the X6, the X3 and the X4. It has been more than 15 years since the first-generation BMW X5 went into production. Since then, this US plant has evolved into the global center of excellence for BMW X models.

The BMW X5 xDrive40e is assembled in parallel with both the other model variants of the BMW X5 and the BMW X6 on a shared production line. Special assembly steps have been added to the manufacturing process for integrating the hybrid-specific components.

The high-voltage battery is manufactured in a newly constructed production hall on the site of the BMW Spartanburg plant.

Source: BMW Group In America