BMW is planning plugin hybrids for all of its brands, including Mini and Rolls Royce.
The 2016 Mini Clubman AWG is expected late in 2015 and will have a 1.5L three cylinder lifted from the F56 Cooper powering the front wheels. Integrated into that will be a plug-in hybrid system (likely derived from the BMW i8) powering the rear wheels only.
The concept model has an output of approx 140 kW / 190 hp. With a fully charged battery, the electric only range should be over 30 kilometers giving the Clubman Plug-In Hybrid the ability to be in 100% electric mode for the majority of day-to-day trips.
Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce now looks likely to adopt plug-in hybrid technology within the next three years.
With parent company BMW already working on plug-in hybrid technology that is soon to be launched on the X5 eDrive – which uses a four-cylinder turbo paired with an electric motor – Rolls-Royce would likely make use of such a powertrain.
“It will be essential in two years,” Rolls Royce Chief Torsten Müller-Otvos told reporters at the Geneva auto-show. “Maybe not from customer demand but through legal regulation on emissions”
The planned Mini and Rolls Royce hybrids come as BMW is riding high on the success of its “i series” of electric cars. BMW has stated it plans to produce hybrid versions of all of its automobiles in the coming years.
