Quote:
Originally Posted by footie
I haven’t driven any of the BMW hybrids but I have in other brands and I have found that occasionally though not always the combination between gearbox/engine and electric motor can be a little hesitant which is something you never experience with a full electric.
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We've owned a full electric car before we went to the 45e, and agree with what you're saying about the smoothness of the drive in all conditions.
There are ways you can experience what you're saying in the 45e, but I personally never experience it since I know how to avoid it. Cases like where you are not in the right mode and you suddenly request a lot more power requiring the gas engine to come on. There's a fraction of a second where the engine comes on and then there's a surge in power since that has so much more available to it.
But in most cases, if you're a capable driver, there's nothing more to it in terms of skill than say anticipating what gear to be in in a full ICE car. Know you're likely to push very hard and pass someone at speed? Sport and/or gear shift to the left - the engine's ready and waiting with the electric boost on top. You can fly in this car. Not a good driver and sitting on pure electric and you floor the throttle past the resistance point at the bottom? - yeah, not the smoothest change-over since power delivery is not linear with the throttle application (a lot comes over in the kickdown as the gas engine comes on, and roars).
The biggest plus point of the 45e, and this is possibly true for the iX is the how quiet it is inside no matter what you're doing. Reviewers have compared it to the Bentley Bentayga in that regard. In the real world, combined with the default air suspension, what this means is that passengers don't
remotely know when I'm doing 90 in it, but the same people in my M4 when it hits 90 say they feel anxious.
Another minor curiosity in the 45e is when you're in full electric and you ask for as much as it can give in full electric, you can feel gearshifts against the electric motor as very subtle variations in power.