When the BMW Group took the decision to electrify and hybridize its automobile lineup a few years back, it wasn’t playing around.
Today, the Bavarian carmaker offers two pure electric models (albeit only as a lease in limited numbers as trial cars), the 1-Series-based ActiveE and the MINI E, and several hybrids, such as the ActiveHybrid 3, 5 and 7. Later this year, it will enhance its range with the i3 all-electric hatchback and from 2014, with the i8 hybrid sports car.
Obviously, there’s more to come, possibly including a hybrid or an all-electric version of the X1, a prototype of which our spies nabbed testing in northern Europe.
This particular test car had “Hybrid” decals, but no visible exhaust pipes, and according to our scoop photographer, when the BMW engineer stepped in and took off, there were no mechanical sounds, leading him to believe that it was a battery-powered model.
Now, we can’t be sure of that as there’s also the possibility that it could be a gasoline- or diesel-electric model with the exhaust system hidden from plain view – let’s not forget that full-hybrids usually have an all-electric mode as well.
Either way, we could see a new and greener version added to the X1’s lineup in the very near future.
Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoopS
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