BMW 5 xDrive45e

First UK drive Plug-in combines efficiency with performance

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Nowadays company cars are all about range, and the tax benefits that go hand in hand with the ability to run on pure electric power. Because if your electric car or, in this instance, plug-in hybrid can cover more than 40 WLTP-rated miles in EV mode, then your Benefit in Kind (BiK) tax burden is almost halved.

This is the reason why BMW has beefed up its latest X5 hybrid — to a point where it claims the car can now travel for more than 50 miles on electricity alone. At the same time, though, the X5 has switched its wheezy four-cylinder engine for a 3.0-litre turbo straight-six, which sits alongside the 111bhp electric motor fora combined 389bhp and a thumping 600Nm of torque.

So while claimed economy and COz emissions are now 201.8mpg and only 31g/km, the new hybrid X5’s outright performance has rocketed. The 0-62mph dash takes just 5.6 seconds, and it’ll do 146mph flat out. Not exactly poor fora vehicle that can do a theoretical 200mpg.