BMW Concept X5 eDrive Plug-In Hybrid Announced For Frankfurt Debut

Why such an anemic 94 hp el. motor for such a large vehicle?

By comparison, el. motors in other plugins:

Rimac Concept One -- 1,088 hp (4 x 272 hp)
Mercedes SLS E-Drive -- 740 hp (4 x 185 hp)
Tesla Model S -- 362 hp (base) or a 416 hp (performance)
Tesla Roadster -- 288 hp
BMW i3 -- 170 hp
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV -- 160 hp (2 x 80 hp)
Toyota RAV4 EV -- 154 hp
Chevy Volt -- 149 hp
BMW i8 -- 131 hp (planned)
Chevy Spark EV -- 130 hp
Fiat 500e -- 111 hp
Nissan LEAF -- 110 hp
Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid -- 95 hp (no kidding! why even bother?)

BTW, these wheels look similar to the ones on the Honda Accord PHEV (166 hp el. m.).

probably because unlike every vehicle on your list (including a non-existent concept car and four vehicles that cost over $100k), it's a plug-in hybrid, not an electic vehicle. It has a turbo I4 supplementing the 94hp electric motor, and combined output is over 300hp. Is that enough? That would put it fourth on your list, not that it matters.

What matters to me is the all-electric drive capability of all these vehicles. The gas engine if present is not used for that, it just goes for the ride.

By the way the Concept One is a "production vehicle" -- you can have one for about a $1M.

Ok, great. Regardless, if and when they make an EV version of the car it'll make sense to put in a more powerful electric motor and the 1000lb of batteries it'll need, since then they can remove the gas engine and fuel tank. Then comparing to the EV's in your list will be at least somewhat useful. Until then it's a hybrid, so it's not. Compared to other hybrids, like the Q5 and Cayenne, it has almost four times as powerful an electric motor. And since it uses a turbo I4 instead of a supercharged V6 in conjunction with that four times as powerful electric motor, it should get excellent fuel economy and have a pretty massive range. Which is the point of a hybrid, and currently not really feasible or practical in an SUV-sized EV.

It is not a hybrid, it is a plugin hybrid. A plug allows the vehicle to store grid electricity in a much larger battery, to have a corresponding much larger el. motor, and to be propelled entirely by them. The driver then can select what kind of combination of power-trains the vehicle can use, all EV, serial hybrid, parallel hybrid, or even ICE only.

The battery does not have to be 1000 lbs. -- the one in the Volt for example is 435 lbs. With higher density now available the battery can be even lighter and still be a meaningful energy source for a full performance.

My list was intended to give some examples, not to be an exhaustive rating off all known auto el. motors.

Why not start with the systems developed for the i3 or even the i8, both of which have a more meaningful el. motor? Why not have the el. motor with more power than the gasoline one for a uniform performance regardless of the energy source? Currently this X5 eDrive concept does not live up to its name. That is all.

Carmakers who use the ZF 8HP transmission can swap out the conventional torque converter for an electric motor. The horsepower ceiling of the added electric motor might be around 100 hp in this current variant of the 8HP (previous variants are around 60 hp). This is similar to how the Aisin transmission in the Panamera most likely has a electric horsepower ceiling of around 100 hp. BTW, I would not be surprised if this X5 hybrid concept, in fact, uses the same Aisin transmission for increased electric power over ZF's. However, that's unlikely.

It's a cost-effective, ad hoc application of the widely used ZF transmission. No doubt this concept does what it's meant to do. Zero emissions for short commutes, ability for normal petrol range, and also without the substantial weight increase from a large battery.

Your explanation makes sense, thanks. But it also confirms my point. BMW is not serious about this.

You want to commute in a 6,000+ lbs vehicle with a 94 hp motor? Be my guest. That however is not my idea of the ultimate driving machine.

If Mitsubishi can muster the much smaller and lighter Outlander with two 80 hp el. motors in addition to the 4-cyl. ICE, why can't the Bavarians?

Is this the future of BMWs commitment to vehicle electrification? After all of the noise on the i3 and the i8?

vdiv, ok, let's try this logically.

How powerful of an electric motor would you need to move a large SUV around? Let's say they put four 80hp electric motors on there, one for each wheel, so you have roughly equivalent power to the hybrid. How big and heavy (and expensive) would those batteries have to be to store enough juice to power that? And what kind of range would you get? We're not talking about a microcar or a city car here, this is a large SUV. How many people would buy an SUV that could only go a couple hundred miles (if that) before needing to be recharged overnight? And that's at most -- the 265 mile Tesla Model S battery pack weighs about 800lbs, and would certainly give a lower range on a big, heavy, less aerodynamic, all-wheel drive SUV that was loaded with a family and all their gear. What kind of trip or family vacation are you taking that SUV on? None. It renders it useless as an SUV. Then you might as well just make a car.

Until batteries come down in price, weight, and size, and you can charge them more quickly and conveniently, making an electric large SUV is pointless, because you won't be able to use it as an SUV. ESPECIALLY if you also want it to be a dynamic SUV, and not just a driving appliance. Down the road? Sure. But there's a reason you don't see them in existence today. Though I'm sure someone would be happy to build you whatever you want for the $1 million cost of that Rimac.

The answer is hidden in your comment. It is the Model X, and judging by the more than expected Model S sales a lot of people would buy one. A crossover like the X5, with passenger and storage capacity like the X5, with AWD and ground clearance like the X5, with performance like the X5, admittedly with a range smaller (remains to be seen) than that of a diesel X5 (585 miles hwy), but perfectly sufficient for everyday soccer mom shuttling, and with the superchargers being deployed, for long-distance driving, and yet with no ICE at all.

Not impossible, not useless, not a $1M, just much more concentrated on that whole plugin eDrive thing.

I really wish BMW spent more time on this car's exterior. It is virtually a slightly larger X3