With many European cities starting to implement bans on diesel cars during peak hours and also all day with a big push for full EV only vehicles in city centres, it will be just a matter of time when current car owners will be forced to sell their petrol or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) cars to favour full electric cars.
This is why BMW product planners are looking at a software ‘switch’ for the current PHEV owners which will allow their customers to hold on to their PHEV BMW’s.
BMW says that their software update could give drivers the best of both worlds by making their plug-in hybrids which is currently the favoured route to electrification, act as a full electric vehicle (EV) in city areas whilst still having the range and convenience of a petrol powered car away from city centres.
For example, the all new BMW X5 PHEV boasts an EV range of some 85 kilometres, BMW say they can force the plug-in hybrid turn off its petrol engine when it enters an area designated as EV only, delivering emission-free running just like a regular EV. Of course, the battery charge has to be up and other considerations will need to be taken in…but the idea moving forward looks very bright. We wonder if Mercedes-Benz is working on a similar program.
