REVIEW: Is The BMW X6 A Properly Good Hybrid?

BMW doesn't do things by halves. This is their first full hybrid model, the ActiveHybrid X6, and it's the most powerful hybrid in the world. It combines a 407bhp 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine with a fiendishly complicated gearbox that contains two electric motors, one optimised for low-speed running, one to boost power at higher speeds. 

The X6 ActiveHybrid's electric motors can produce 91bhp and 86bhp, respectively, but the total combined output is pegged at 485bhp and 575lb ft – lessening the load on the V8 petrol engine and further reducing emissions.

So the BMW X6 ActiveHybrid is a Prius in big, bad SUV wolf disguise?

Hardly, but the X6 plays all the usual hybrid tricks. The motors act as generators under braking (electricity is stored in a nickel metal hydride battery with a capacity of 2.4kWh located underneath the boot floor).....


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