BMW 225xe Active Tourer gets bigger range and improved economy

The BMW 225xe Active Tourer has been updated for 2019 with a more dense battery pack resulting in improved economy, range and emissions.

For the UK, the benefit of a government grant for plug-in hybrids has now gone (although not in theory), as a result of which plug-in hybrid sales have fallen significantly.

But that doesn’t mean car makers are giving up on plug-ins, and although no car maker has yet delivered a plug-in to market which can hit the 70-mile EV range needed to qualify for a grant, improvements in battery technology is delivering more practical plug-ins.

A couple of weeks ago BMW announced an update for the 530e plug-in hybrid with more range and improved economy, and now it’s the turn of the family-focused BMW 225xe Active Tourer to get a similar makeover.

Just like the 530e, the 225xe gets a more dense battery pack which takes the same space as the old battery pack but has a 10.0kWh capacity (up from 7.6kWh) which allows EV range to increase from around 25 miles to up to 33 miles. Not huge, but it all helps.

The additional power from the battery allows the 225xe to use electric power more of the time, resulting in a 15 per cent improvement in economy with emissions as low as 42g/km.

Despite the added battery power, power and performance from the 1.5 litre three-pot and electric motor stays at 221bhp and scoots to 62mph in 6.7 seconds, with EV driving possible up to 81mph.