BMW Builds a Tire-Shredding, License-Losing Luxo-Hybrid

While Honda's determined to make hybrids affordable with the bargain-basement Insight, it seems German automakers want to make gas-electric vehicles as expensive -- and quick -- as their best sedans. Hot on the heels of Mercedes' announcement that it'll have a $100,000 hybrid in showrooms next year comes a luxo-barge concept from BMW that produces more than 400 horsepower.

The 7-Series Active Hybrid that BMW is bringing to the Paris Motor Show uses the same mild hybrid system Mercedes is putting in the 30-mpg S 400 Blue Hybrid, which is no surprise given the two automakers worked with General Motors to build it. But BMW went over the top, maximizing performance by integrating a 20-horsepower electric motor with the 8-speed automatic transmission and bolting it all to a twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 producing 407 horsepower.

BMW didn't provide much in the way of specs in the press release we had to translate from German, but given the 279-horsepower S 400 hybrid does 0 to 60 in 7.9 seconds, it's safe to say the big Beemer will be mighty quick.

But will it be fuel efficient?

BMW says the hybrid 7 cuts fuel consumption and emissions by 15 percent over the gas-burning 750i (15 mpg city, 23 highway) it's based on. BMW says the electric motor replaces the starter and alternator -- a huge source of parasitic engine drag in a land yacht chock-full of electric accessories -- and increases the efficiency of the vehicle's stop-start system. Regenerative braking helps keep the 120-volt lithium-ion battery charged.

The 7-Series hybrid follows the X6 hybrid that BMW rolled out a year ago and the X5 diesel-hybrid we saw earlier this year. No word on when it's coming -- though 2009 has been bandied about -- or what it'll charge, but given the 750i starts at about $76,000, the hybrid will be as expensive as it is quick.

Images by BMW.