We’ve just had our first chance to drive a plug-in hybrid variant of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, other versions of which went on sale in the spring.
So far, it has proved it’s a likeable car. Not a traditional BMW in the ‘ultimate driving machine’ sense, but this sensible and predominantly front-driven hatch-meets-kinda-MPV has sold pretty well and is intensely practical. At nearly 4.4m long and 1.6m high, it’s a spacious tall family car with generous roominess and a big boot.
This 225e xDrive variant has a 56-mile (combined cycle) electric-only range, and 108bhp as an EV via a motor that acts solely on the back axle.
Then there’s the 1.5-litre petrol engine in the front, driving the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, whose 135bhp gives a system total of 243bhp (because the engine and motor don’t both make their peak outputs at the same time).
The latest system’s EV range is much better than the 32 miles the old 2 Series Active Tourer plug-in offered, and the drive battery can charge at 7.4kW, double the 3.7kW it used to have – so it can fully charge in around 2.5 hours on a home wallbox.
As before, and as elsewhere in plug-in hybrid land, it’s the integration of the various drive systems that’s key to usability and here’s where the 225e scores well. In normal driving, the electric motor assists the petrol engine, filling a torque gap while the engine spools from low revs, assisting performance when you ask for full acceleration, and pitching in to drive on EV power alone whenever it can, even once any initial battery charge is depleted.
The impressive thing is how little you’d know about what it’s up to mechanically, and when it’s doing its various things. The petrol engine is quiet so spins in and out largely unnoticeably around town. And when the battery has no plugged range left, this is still a set-up that can return an MPG deep into the 50s without too much effort on the driver’s part.
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Needs to be an improvement on the previous 225XE.
Good bits: fun playing with FWD / RWD / AWD. Pleasantly quick. Good app.
Bad bits: who else builds a car without heated / folding mirrors? Coarse petrol engine. Forgettable looks (if the app didn't say where you've parked it, you'd never find it again). Electric-only range even in optimum conditions is more like 22 miles, and even with a feather-foot.
Bought it to complement a BMW i3 (far better). Only kept the 225XE 5 months. Changed it for a VW ID4.
...but with a 25 mile commute I never actually put petrol in it in those 5 months.
They have the incorrect grille on it; wouldn't that belong on a larger BMW?
I believe Autocar overstates the practicality of this car because we are owners of a previous generation Gran Tourer. It's not very spacious.
2% BIK incorrect!
That's only for full-electric cars.
This one is 8%. Gets your facts straight.