[bmw34me]

Does anyone know what happens to performance if the battery of the new BMW 330e is never charged.

Can the engine charge the battery (partly)? Or will it just revert to being a heavy 320i?

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by bmw34me

Does anyone know what happens to performance if the battery of the new BMW 330e is never charged.

Can the engine charge the battery (partly)? Or will it just revert to being a heavy 320i?

The engine will charge the battery, but that really defeats the idea of a plug-in hybrid. You'll get some energy harvesting from slowing down, etc., but how leaving the battery at a low state of charge impacts on battery longevity, I've no knowledge.

I'm aware some have run PHEV models without ever plugging in to the mains. Running the 330e in such a way does appear more like running a heavy 320i, or here in the UK, simply a more tax efficient (BIK) company car than the 320i.

[hans007]

well a normal hybrid probably has like a 1kw or less battery. So it'd be like having a normal hybrid car, with 11kw worth of batteries sitting in the trunk.

It'd still save you gas.