[ORIGIN M.]

Originally Posted by VTECaddict

PHEVs and BEVs will be the future. PHEVs make a lot of sense for most consumers. Gas-free daily commutes and just recharge at work or at home. You still have the gas engine for when you need maximum performance or for long distance travel. Cost is still a huge factor now, but as the tech improves and becomes more ubiquitous, it will get cheaper.

I can definitely see M-division employing this technology in the future as battery tech improves so they can keep the weight down.

As Chris Harris so eloquently put it, The e-drive is "torque-fill" for the turbos.

We are going to see performance to a whole new level.

I personally will take a 100% Electric ///M Car w/125hp in-wheel electric motors in all for wheels w/ 600 foot pounds of torque. Talk about a entirely new xDrive system

[raysspl]

I, too, echo similar sentiments on more involvement from the M division can improve battery & overall car performance.

[G2G]

Originally Posted by SamS

As a former AH3 owner, I can agree that the cheap gas has driven down demand, prices and interest in such vehicles. But BMW developed these cars 5+ years ago, so they couldn't really "stop" when the oil prices dropped like a rock. When they first started working on this model, they could have predicted that gas would be $5/gal in 2016, and this car may have made sense. If anything, cars like the 330e will help them design better totally electric vehicles that will be common 10-15 years from now.

Over the pond in Europe the still make sense since the price for petrol/ diesel has not changed a lot although the oil price drop. Since the gov just started to tax fossil fuels even higher (up to 120%)

[Imola.ZHP]

Originally Posted by VTECaddict

PHEVs and BEVs will be the future. PHEVs make a lot of sense for most consumers. Gas-free daily commutes and just recharge at work or at home. You still have the gas engine for when you need maximum performance or for long distance travel. Cost is still a huge factor now, but as the tech improves and becomes more ubiquitous, it will get cheaper.

I can definitely see M-division employing this technology in the future as battery tech improves so they can keep the weight down.

I feel very much the same, my better half works ~3 miles south of our house, I work 2.2 miles north. We are looking at replacing our CRV with a PHEV x1, even if it only has ~20 miles all electric range (AER) it will only have to be charged twice per work week. Then we will still have the gas motor for trips out of town or for running errands around town. We have what we refer to as a "weekend house" that is 18 miles away, even that trip might end up being all electric depending on how loaded down it is with dogs and what-not.

Originally Posted by red-sauerkraut

As Chris Harris so eloquently put it, The e-drive is "torque-fill" for the turbos.

We are going to see performance to a whole new level.

I personally will take a 100% Electric ///M Car w/125hp in-wheel electric motors in all for wheels w/ 600 foot pounds of torque. Talk about a entirely new xDrive system

Exactly! Embrace it, we're not talking about Prei (my plural for Prius), BMW is going to take hybrids to an entirely different level, my i3 is technically a hybrid (because it is a REx), near 50/50 weight distribution, Carbon Fibre body on Aluminum frame, rear engine, rear wheel drive, I love it! I came from an e46 ZHP sedan that I thought I would never part ways with. I followed the i3 since concept, I didn't jump on it right away but did do the initial "drive event" at my local dealer and then took one home for an extended test drive last fall. I've had it for about 6 months now and about 4600 miles, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. I loved my e46 but got tired of working on it. The day I sold it I changed the oil for the new owner and said to myself "I never want to have to do this again." I bought a REx, so I'm sure I will be doing it again, but still. Right now I plan to keep it until face-lift of the 2nd gen i3, around 2023, I will probably go full BEV at that point. No telling what might happen between now and then though.

[Diver]

Originally Posted by SamS

As a former AH3 owner, I can agree that the cheap gas has driven down demand, prices and interest in such vehicles. But BMW developed these cars 5+ years ago, so they couldn't really "stop" when the oil prices dropped like a rock. When they first started working on this model, they could have predicted that gas would be $5/gal in 2016, and this car may have made sense. If anything, cars like the 330e will help them design better totally electric vehicles that will be common 10-15 years from now.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Perhaps when drive trains similar to the i8 filter down to cars in the 3 series price range I will be interested. There are performance advantages to using electric assist at launch and for 4 wheel drive. The price of oil, like the weather, is notoriously hard to predict. I drove my BMW over 160 miles today, at times through insane rain.

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by SamS

You might miss out on some awesome cars, in the future. My AH3 felt as fast as my E92 M3 at any speed up to about 50mph. Consider that hybrid/electric cars can likely progress the performance bar at a faster pace than cars with an internal combustion engine.

Agree. The writing on the wall says that Power-eDrive is the future of BMW performance vehicles. In two generations we may very well be talking about the 500hp 4 cylinder M3 hybrid and 700hp 6 cylinder M5 hybrid. Maybe even a 400hp 3 cylinder 1M hybrid too.

By and large, it is emissions standards (regulatory demand) rather than gas prices (consumer demand) driving vehicle propulsion technology. Automakers are steping up to the challenge of finding ways to make consumers actually want the "greener" vehicles, and eDrive is one of BMW's solutions.

[mkoesel]

Does anyone know what the button seen on the back of the shifter surround in the pictures included in the OP says/does? Perhaps this is a standard feature eDrive BMWs - I'll have a look at the X5.

[SamS]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

Does anyone know what the button seen on the back of the shifter surround in the pictures included in the OP says/does? Perhaps this is a standard feature eDrive BMWs - I'll have a look at the X5.

Per BMW:
The eDrive button allows the driver to choose between three different electric drive modes: the standard AUTO eDRIVE mode, the purely electric MAX eDRIVE mode and the SAVE BATTERY mode, in which the charging status of the high-voltage battery is maintained at a constant level.

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by SamS

Per BMW:
The eDrive button allows the driver to choose between three different electric drive modes: the standard AUTO eDRIVE mode, the purely electric MAX eDRIVE mode and the SAVE BATTERY mode, in which the charging status of the high-voltage battery is maintained at a constant level.

Thanks SamS. I figured it was something to do with the hybrid drive system.

[marcva]

If you think hybrid technology is boring look at the top gear or chris harris' review of the porsche 918.

Great sounds, amazing performance and solid gas mileage.