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      03-05-2019, 11:03 AM   #1
Jason
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BMW 330e Plug In Hybrid First Drive Review by Motortrend

Motortrend has posted their first drive review of the BMW 330e plug in hybrid and they came away impressed.

The full review can be read here: https://www.motortrend.com/cars/bmw/...-drive-review/

Some highlights:

On paper, the 2016 330e looked like a perfect example of everything that was wrong with modern BMWs. BMW's lost its way. BMWs aren't fun to drive anymore. Why would you even bother building a hybrid 3 Series? Yet, as we found out in our First Test, the 330e was actually pretty good. Thanks to the electric motor's low-end torque, it actually felt slightly more responsive than the 330i.

But if the old 330e wasn't enough to convince you that a plug-in hybrid can be a real 3 Series, the new one definitely should. In part, that's because the new 3 Series is such a better car than its predecessor. Somehow, it manages to be larger, more spacious, and more upscale while also being quicker and more fun to drive.

BMW says that's enough power to give the 330e a 0-60 time of a little less than 6 seconds, but that has to be conservative. Extremely conservative. When we last tested its predecessor, it made the same run in a relatively quick 5.6 seconds. The new car is no M3, but after driving both generations back to back, it definitely feels quicker.

But if you're interested in a hybrid 3 Series, you're probably at least partly interested in better gas mileage. We're still waiting for EPA figures to be announced, but BMW claims the 330e's electric range has been increased by 50 percent. On the European test cycle, that means it's rated to go 60 kilometers (about 37 miles) on a single charge, but because the old version only had a 14-mile EPA range, we're going to be conservative and bet it's actually closer to 21 miles. The mpg-e should also be improved, though we're not sure by how much.

We'll need to see pricing and the official EPA figures before we can say just how much of an improvement the new car is, but at least for now, we're confident that if you want a fuel-efficient sport sedan, the BMW 330e is going to be a hard car to beat.
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