The new BMW 7-series has just be presented to the public during the Detroit Motor show and is going to be launched in April in Ireland. It is a very extensive and quite bold facelift, including interesting powertrains developments.

The PHEV version is offered in 2 variants, a short wheelbase rear wheel drive, the 745e and the long wheelbase all wheel drive 745Le xDrive. Importantly these are getting a straight six in replacement of the four cylinder of the previous 740e. This means obviously better performance, with an impressive gain of 72hp to a total of 394hp (that’s 286hp for the petrol engine and 113hp for the electric motor). It will go from 0 to 100kph in 5.2 (745e) and 5.1 seconds (745Le xDrive).

The range is as for many other PHEVs somewhat limited, 50 to 58 km witch translates usually into 30 to 40 km of real life driving, depending on the season. It is an improvement over the original 740e thanks to a new 12kWh pack (precedently 9,2kWh).

Price wise, these PHEV variants are never cheap compared to your mid-size hatchback, but in comparison with the petrol and diesel variants of the 7-series, quite attractive !

The 745e is €7,400 cheaper than the 740i, despite 54 extra horsepower.

The 745Le xDrive is €8,820 cheaper than the 740Ld sDrive, also behind in terms of power (-74hp) and performance.

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BMW 745e : €100,510

BMW 745Le xDrive €109,410