"The world’s most successful business saloon is now also available as a plug-in hybrid." That's the tagline from BMW for the new 530e iPERFORMANCE which will be available to order as of next month from a price of £43,985.
Most efficient 5 Series ever
Thanks to a marriage of a 2.0 litre and a 9.2kWh battery, this model is the most fuel efficient yet with CO2 emissions coming in at just 46g/km. However, don't think it will be down on power - the 2.0 litre unit offers 184bhp and 320Nm of torque which is complimented by an electric motor producing an extra 95bhp, bring the total power to 252bhp. 0-62 comes in just 6.2 seconds and the top speed is 146mph, which is not bad, not too bad at all...
It may be green, but it's not slouch...
Drive the car carefully though and you should be able to squeeze out nearly 400 miles on a full tank, which is not by any means out of this world, but it does mean you should spend less time at the pumps, which can only be a good thing, unless you enjoy overpriced, crap coffee. As with most BMWs, power is fed to the rear wheels and it's mated to a 8-speed Steptronic automatic gearbox.
The car can be driven in all-electric mode as well if you choose to do so and you can expect a maximum of 29 miles range in this mode. Charging the battery takes around 5 hours in a normal household socket, but this can be reduced to 3 hours if you use a BMW i Wallbox.
The new BMW 530e will be available to buy from the middle of next month from a price of £43,985.
