Limiting oneself is a mistake in a world that is becoming more and more direct, connected and faster. These include legendary brand seeds, or as they like to call them today: unique selling proposition.
Driving report BMW 225xe Active Tourer
And so it is somehow a liberation when you suddenly sit in a generally more front-wheel drive van, the three-cylinder engine is installed transversely and mounted on a rear-mounted electric motor not only to demand four-wheeler, but also to a part-time electric car and on the bonnet of course the BMW propeller emblazoned.
Once again: Van, three-cylinder, electric motor and more front-wheel than all-wheel drive - in a BMW!
All this is just the sum of rational arguments. Whose choice of car falls on a van, the passion has no longer necessarily put into driving, but more to other areas of life. Times are changing. And yet the 225xe Active Tourer is more than a resource-optimized utility object, but perhaps the most advanced BMW ever.
On a length of 4.34m, he transports wonderfully focused all the things a family needs in everyday life. In the first and second row there is an almost unbelievable freedom of movement for a BMW. Even the trunk is properly allocated. The slightly higher rear seat is a concession to the battery pack placed underneath, but the children are pleased with the better overview. Otherwise, the rest of the restrictions by the technology addition in narrow limits - because only in the load volume, the 225xe must be limited by a few liters. Who wants to know exactly: 68 liters less with five seats, folded, the 225xe 1350 latches a liter, his conventional brothers 1510 liter. But thanks to the well thought-out interior arrangement, it does not matter much.
Where we would then be the most important topic. 300kg brings the extra drive with all its ancillaries compared to the small, front-wheel drive 2er Tourers with it. That sounds like a lot, but overall it's only 1700 kg total weight and compared to a 220d xDrive, it's barely more than 150 kg, which puts the battery pack more on the rear axle.
And the distribution of the whole kilos seems to work well in 225xe, because so the Active Tourer drives in any case like a BMW as a van. Of course, the concentrated additional mass in the rear means a fairly tightly feathered hindquarters and yet the agility is not the classic Munich attack attitude. But the compromise in its entirety is a really good one.
What is also in the performance, because with 224PS system performance, the Active Tourer does not directly address those who want to save the planet, but especially those who like the family excursion fun on the way. The combination of powerful 88 PS electric power and 385 Nm in total sweeps the 225xe not only at the traffic lights, but also on the highway very confidently forward. After all, it is this harmony of the entire drive that impresses. Not only the tuning of the two engines at Font and Heck, but also the 15PS and with 150Nm boosting starter generator takes place wonderfully unnoticed in the action. Even the six-speed automatic transmission can not miss any speed and keeps the 1.5 liter three-cylinder in the game.
So the partially electric Active Tourer is an incredibly uncomplicated companion in everyday life. No renouncement, but no exaggeration, you are left alone by the complex interaction of all modes and engines. In the end, the small big BMW thanks the whole thing at the gas station. Depending on how often you have charged the 5.8 kWh battery between stages, we have harvested consumption from 2.1 to 6.9 liters on 100 km. A decent value, especially if you remember, that we were never at normal speed.
Anyone who wants to, of course, can take it to the extreme and in the "MAX eDrive" mode in Selbstkasteiiung breaking records, but more than 28 kilometers you will not be able to do just by the power of the electrons. Naturally, the concept also reaches its limits on the fast motorway stage: not only is 202 km / h over with the 136 combustion engine PS, the electric motor can not do anything here any more and the fuel consumption is approaching over the full distance two-digit values.
But the 225xe Active Tourer is not built for that either. He is a very normal family car, with a very special drive concept that most would not necessarily notice. And perhaps the best thing about electric van is its price. If you think that you would pay dearly for the expense of technology in Munich, you are wrong. 38.800 EUR costs the fun - and thus less than an 225i xDrive and less than the 190PS diesel in four-wheel drive version.
For us the price is the most incredible thing about the 225xe. If you have dared to take a courageous step into the future with the i3 and i8, the new, less avant-garde i performance models such as the Active Tourer, in particular, show what competence you already have on your way to the future in Munich.
You can really look forward to it - because what BMW is currently accomplishing with overcoming traditional borders is a wonderful liberation.