This long-wheelbase BMW 5 Series is a hybrid in every sense of the word - not only does it combine a 160kW petrol engine and a 70kW electric motor, it's also a joint venture between the Blue Propeller Boykies and their Chinese partner Brilliance.
The BMW Brilliance 5 Series plug-in hybrid will debut at the 2011 Shanghai motor show - and the partners are calling it a prototype, not a concept, saying that it will go into production in 2013 at the Brilliance plant in Shenyang.
Initially it will be for the Chinese market only, but don't bet on that being permanent.
It's based on the long-wheelbase version of the BMW 5 Series sedan, developed exclusively for the Chinese market and produced at the Shenyang site, and provides the same ride comfort, luxurious ambience and interior space as the petrol-powered “stretched Five” beloved of Beijing bureaucrats.
It has a 160kW combustion engine with TwinPower turbo technology and a 70kW electric motor powered by a high-voltage battery in the boot that can also be charged from mains power. The components for the plug-in hybrid drive, power electronics and battery were developed in China as a joint effort between BMW and Brilliance.
They claim a range on electric power only of 75km at a steady 60km/h (which will get the average Chinese 5 Series customer to work and back) while the petrol engine gives it at least another 400km.
BMW is running a number of electric-vehicle projects in China, including a purely battery-powered LWB 5 Series, developed as a cooperative venture with Tongji University in Shanghai.
The worldwide MINI E trial was extended to China at the beginning of the 2011, with fleets in Beijing and Shenzhen, and field testing of the battery-powered 1 Series ActiveE Coupé will begin during 2011.