2012 BMW ActiveHybrid 5 rice Range:$60,950 - $60,950

The 2012 BMW ActiveHybrid 5 rice Range:$60,950 - $60,950
BMW’s earlier steps into hybridization haven’t been the most decisive. The hybrid vehicles it has offered so far start at nearly $90,000 and don’t quite have the impressive fuel-economy numbers commonly associated with hybrids. The hybrid 7-series is rated by the EPA at 17 mpg in the city and 24 on the highway; the now-cancelled X6 hybrid, 17/19. (The upcoming i8 plug-in hybrid sports car will certainly better those figures, but with wild looks and an anticipated six-figure sticker, it isn’t going to hold much mainstream appeal.) Next year, though, the Bavarians will be taking a big step in making the once-bizarre notion of a hybrid BMW more accessible—though once again not quite as efficient as most hybrids—when the company launches the ActiveHybrid 5 in March.

The ActiveHybrid 5 concept the company brought to the 2010 Geneva auto show was pretty much showroom ready, the official announcement of the production car presents no surprises. The first BMW to add electric power to the firm’s splendid turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six, the 5 plants an electric motor between the engine and an eight-speed automatic. The motor provides an additional 55 hp and 155 lb-ft of torque and gets its juice from a 96-cell, 0.68-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack mounted between the rear wheels. BMW claims a combined output of 335 hp and 330 lb-ft, increases of 35 and 30, respectively, over the 535i’s lonely turbocharged inline-six. Like BMW’s other hybrids, the 5 features brake-energy regeneration and an engine stop/start feature that shuts the engine down when coasting and stopped.