BMW has been steadily moving towards electrification. One of the options is the plug-in hybrid which offers the range of a conventional car with the zero emission of an electric car when required. These cars have sufficient range which allows for pure electric driving on a day to day basis and allowing for those weekend jaunts into the countryside without bothering about the range.

The smallest SUV, called the Sport Activity Vehicle (SAV) from BMW is the X1 and its coupe cousin, the Sports Activity Coupe (SAC) BMW X2. The plug-in hybrid versions of these cars are called the BMW X1 xDrive25e and the BMW X2 xDrive25e. Both these cars are powered by the same plug-in hybrid power plant and differ only in the styling and body shape. This power plant comprises a 1.5 litre 3 cylinder petrol engine with TwinPower Turbo Technology driving the front wheel through a 6-speed Steptronic transmission and an electric motor driving the rear wheel through a single speed transmission. The petrol engine produces 125 BHP of power and 220 N-m of torque. On the other hand, the electric motor generates 95 BHP of power and 165 N-m of torque. The combined power plant offers a four wheel drive and 220 BHP of power with 385 N-m of torque. This power plant pushes the cars from 0 to 100 Km/h in 6.9 seconds for the X1 and 6.8 seconds for the X2. The top speed of the cars is 193 Km/h for the X1 and 195 Km/h for the X2.

The electric motor is connected to a 10 KW-h Li-ion battery pack. This battery pack allows the cars a pure electric range of between 54 and 57 Km which is sufficient for an emission free drive inside cities. This battery can be charged using a home electric point in 5 hours while using a BMW i wall point it can charge in 3.2 hours. BMW offers three driving modes for managing the hybrid propulsion, AUTO eDRIVE, MAX eDRIVE and SAVE BATTERY. The AUTO eDRIVE mode manages the power plant for maximum range and efficiency. It can be coupled with the navigation system to anticipate the driving conditions a choose the best propulsion mode accordingly. The MAX eDRIVE mode forces use of electric motors only for minimum emission while the SAVE BATTERY mode keeps the batteries charged for later use.

In addition, the car has various modes for controlling the suspension and other electronic nannies for customized driving experience. These three modes are COMFORT, SPORT and ECO PRO. The car has 17 inch alloys, 2-zone automatic air conditioning as well as auxiliary air conditioning. The interior can be pre-conditioned remotely via BMW Connected using a smartphone. As an alternative to the basic version, the new BMW X1 xDrive25e is available as a Sport Line, xLine and M Sport model. For the new BMW X2 xDrive25e customers can choose from the following models: Advantage, Advantage Plus, M Sport and M Sport X. In the new BMW X1 xDrive25e luggage compartment capacity is 450 litres. With a standard split of 40: 20: 40, the folding backrests enable this to be increased to 1,470 litres. A trailer tow hitch with detachable ballhead is optionally available for the new BMW X1 xDrive25e. The maximum trailer load is 750 kilograms.

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