[MotoEV]

After reading and participating in the conversation about the Active Hybrid 3 and the added technology, I could not remember having used the E-Boost feature. The 335i is an already fast and quick car so I decided to take a drive this weekend to check it out. What I originally thought was E-Boost was simply the boost from the N55 engine. As many are aware, it is hard to find situations in United States urban settings where you can 'put the pedal to the metal' for prolonged stretches without hitting another car or getting arrested for reckless driving.

Finding an Open Stretch of Road
To fully experience E-Boost, I had the car in Sport + with the gate to the DS mode. I performed 4 acceleration runs, invoking full throttle in 2nd gear. All I can say is OMG. I finally saw the E-Boost light on the Hybrid screen but the acceleration was so hard, I had to quickly direct my eyes back to the road. There is a clear and distinct improvement in midrange acceleration with the hybrid using the E-Boost capability.

From a Driving.ca article on the Active Hybrid 3 it states:

The engine, which uses all of BMW's high-powered technology including Valvetronic, puts forth 300 horsepower and a stout 300 pound-feet of torque at 1,200 rpm. The electric motor then chips in with another 55 hp and 155 lb-ft of torque from Rev One. With the two working together, the ActiveHybrid 3 boasts a net system out put of 335 hp and 332 lb-ft of torque.

The gas/electric combination delivers surprising performance, boasting a very quick run from rest to 100 km/h of 5.3 seconds, which is 0.1 km/h better than the 335i. It also manages to turn the 80-to-120-km/h (49-TO-73 MPH) trick in 4.1 seconds, which is superb, hybrid or otherwise. The secret lies in the electric motor's ability to supply its power boost for up to 20 seconds when the battery is fully charged. To all intents and purposes, this is whenever the driver calls upon the additional power.

The best description for the midrange E-Boost is: amazing and I cannot imagine using the full 20 seconds of available acceleration under full E-Boost. It's like having a KERS F1 system and now it makes sense why the heavy duty transmission is needed.

Would I use E-Boost often? No. But...

I do know this, I pity the fool who tries to race me from a stoplight

Active Hybrid 3 at Speed

[Jonsiu]

interesting, thanks!

[jdong]

Yeah, absolutely, the use of EBOOST on on-ramps is amazing and you can watch the battery percentage drain at a significant rate and feel the power. Note that the electric motor in "assist" mode isn't operating at full power because it's less efficient to generate significant acceleration using the motor compared to using the efficient N55 engine (the engine later on has to work harder to charge the battery).

And if you're in SPORT mode, the car will much more aggressively recharge the battery to 85% using the engine while you're using less than full throttle, so there's always plenty of power to go back into EBOOST. When not in SPORT mode, the car aggressively recharges to 25%, but then relies more on overrun to slowly creep up to 85%. I've never in practice run "out" of electricity when I needed to floor it. As MotoEV said, the car quickly rockets beyond legal speeds under EBOOST.

Also, note that with EBOOST, BMW markets the 332lb-ft of torque from 1000RPM rather than 1200RPM.

[zon]

Wow, great!!

Thanks for posting your findings on eboost.

[300hp]

The only thing that stopped me from buying the AH3 was the non availability m sport package within the time frame I had. Otherwise there is no doubt this thing is super sexy. My test drives were just amazing

[PaulBailey@ltbmw]

[Roki_014]

I had the active hybrid for a loaner and i didnt notice any difference in acceleration between the two if anything mine felt sportier

[zenmaster]

Originally Posted by Roki_014

I had the active hybrid for a loaner and i didnt notice any difference in acceleration between the two if anything mine felt sportier

That's because the difference in 0-60 acceleration between the two is minimal. The 335i being a lighter car, would feel sportier. That said, I've owned two 335i sedans for the past 6 years and while the AH3 is heavier, in "Sport/+" modes it offers more torque at lower RPMs due to the electric motor. When throttle is applied on the AH3, more power is delivered to wheels quicker which is a nice feeling. Even though most of that additional power is compensating for the additional weight, not all of it is, and it does seem (and feel) that the acceleration advantage goes to the AH3 in all cases.