Firestyle Magazine: Issue 6 - Winter 2016

power and then allow the petrol
engine to take over or regenerate
the battery if necessary. I found
plugging in a conventional 13amp
3 plug took about 4-5 hours to
recharge the batteries and this
then gave it sufficient power for
25 miles as previously stated and
almost marginally over 70 miles on
a flat section of road. If you have
access to a fast charge system
then you should be able to get
the batteries topped up to 100% in
perhaps 2 hours but of course this
is still a detrimental factor to the
vehicle and another reason why it
is necessary with this configuration
and type of battery and power cells
to have petrol power.
As always with a BMW there is a
quality factor and the cabin just
shouts at you that this is top drawer,
high quality performance vehicle
that you will enjoy being cocooned
in for your journey, whether it be a
lengthy motorway sojourn or just in
and around town.
For me the jury is still out on the whole
aspect of hybrid configurations of
battery and fossil fuel power and I
am still to be convinced of the merits,
especially as some of the more newer
engines are so fuel and carbon
efficient that they seem to outweigh
the advantages of the battery power.
From a driving dynamics the 330E
is a little heavier than the 330
conventional variety, but this did
not seem to have a detrimental
effect to the power and handling
of the vehicle. From behind the
wheel there is virtually no difference
between a 330E and other vehicles
within the 3-Series, you immediately
become comfortable and used to
the kidney shaped dashboard that
is a normal familiar factor on the
3-Series.
The 330E with all the extras fitted by BMW on the test
car had an on the road price of £42,350. The actual
car on the road without the extras was £34,235.
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