BMW X5 xDrive 40e revealed – the production X5 plug-in hybrid – promising 85mpg

The production version of the X5 eDrive plug-in hybrid – the BMW xDrive 40e – has been revealed ahead of a public debut at next month’s New York motor show.

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We’ve already seen BMW’s plug-in hybrid X5 as a concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2013, but now it arrives as an X5 that lets you have your cake and eat it in the guise of the new plug-in hybrid BMW X5 40e.

The X5 40e gets the usual recipe of smaller ICE engine, in this case a 2.0 litre turbo petrol delivering 242bhp and 258lb/ft of torque, with an electric motor – a 111bhp with 184lb/ft of torque – mixed in to promise silly economy and emissions together with impressive performance from its combined 309bhp and 332lb/ft of torque.

In the X5 40e’s case that means the promise of up to 85mpg and just 77g/km (it’ll be slightly different depending on actual spec) and yet it will still get to 62mph in 6.8 seconds and on to a limited 131mph.

There’s a choice of three modes for driving, with Auto eDrive throwing the ICE and electric motor at performance, Max eDrive runs as a pure EV and Save eDrive uses just the ICE to save the battery charge and add to it.

Charging of the battery pack – which sits under the boot floor and steals a bit of luggage space – takes a bit under four hours from a normal socket, enough for up to 19 miles of EV running.

But despite the impressive official numbers on offer for economy and emissions, we can’t see the X5 40e being much more economical in the real world than its diesel counterparts,.l especially as once you’ve used up your battery power you’ll effectively be driving a, rather slow, 2.0 litre petrol X5.

Not only that, but even when everything’s fully charged, the performance of the 40e is only on a par with the X5 30d, despite having as much power as the X5 40d. But that’s probably down to the lack of torque in the hybrid setup.

Still, if you’re a company car driver the BIK figures will be very appealing, and even if BMW charge a premium for the X5 40e it will still be a car that has big appeal for those who don’t actually buy their own cars.