While the 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 is a hybrid, you'll never mistake it for a Prius. Whenever you first think of hybrid, you think fuel proficiency, but the BMW hybrid is nowhere near as efficient as most hybrids. While the 2011 ActiveHybrid 7 will certainly save on fuel in comparison to its other 7-series siblings, its ride in stop and go traffic is iffy and the power steering gets turned off in idle stop. It can do a good job of combining raw car power with the fuel efficiency of hybrid technology but there are some quirks that get in the way.
The extra force that is provided by a hybrid system is normally used by most automakers to have a smaller gasoline engine, but not BMW. BMW chose to utilize the extra power generated by the electric motor to make the car go even faster instead of using it to reduce fuel consumption. Like the standard BMW 750i, the 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 has a twin turbo direct-injection 4.4-liter V-8 engine. In contrast to the BMW 750i, the ActiveHybrid 7 comes with a 120-volt lithium ion battery supply. The hybrid offers you much better fuel consumption than the regular 750i but provide even more horsepower.
The ActiveHybrid 7 should basically be regarded as a mild hybrid system because the car is not able to drive completely under electric power. It is just like the Integrated Motor Assist System of the Honda, where it offers boost when it is speeding up, and when it stops it lets the engine turn off. If you may be in the driver's seat, you simply won't even know that you are in a hybrid, but it has a blue area in the fuel gauge, which shows when the car is having electricity regenerated by its momentum. As soon as the car stops at a traffic light, you'll know that it is a hybrid, by the engine going silent and the tach needle drops to zero. As soon as you take the foot off the brake, the engine comes back on quickly which is impressive considering the size of the engine.
Even though the idle stop platform works well at a long stoplight, it doesn't do so well in stop-and-go traffic. The car will have a tendency to shut down for 5 seconds at a time which can end up getting irritating after awhile. It also takes getting used to the level of power, because the vehicle lunges ahead with the slightest touch of the accelerator. It may sound green calling this car a hybrid, even so the added horsepower and not fuel efficiency is what this hybrid system has done.
As soon as you think of a hybrid, you think of fuel efficiency, and even though the 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 is more efficient that the standard BMW 7-series, it only gets around 20 miles per gallon. While that is ideal for a luxury sport vehicle that is not all that much for a hybrid.
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