f you’ve ever thought that perhaps the combination of a 5000-plus-pound luxury sedan and hybrid technology seems a bit counterintuitive, we’re with you. Blame CAFE regulations—and blame Lexus. The luxury-car game is a nonstop arms race, with every big-ticket manufacturer rushing to make sure they don’t fall behind in the technology department, and the 2008 LS600hL hybrid could be considered the snowball that started the avalanche that continues with this car, the 2010 BMW ActiveHybrid 7. (Mercedes-Benz is rolling out the S400 BlueHybrid for 2010, too.)
There are two ways to apply hybrid technology. There’s the Toyota Prius way of doing things: make a responsible fuel miser that’s so slow you’d think pedaling would be faster. And then there’s the big-gun luxury way: the BMW ActiveHybrid 7 uses its electric motor to assist a 440-hp twin-turbo V-8 in making “the fastest-accelerating hybrid sedan in the world.” (The blown V-8 produces 400 hp in a nonhybrid 7.) The new hybrid 7 is said to reach 60 mph from a stop in just 4.8 seconds (the Lexus takes 5.4) and top out at an electronically limited 150 mph, all while achieving an estimated 15-percent increase in fuel efficiency over a standard 750i. That efficiency declaration has yet to be verified by the EPA, but the 2009 750i is rated at 15/22 mpg city/highway, so the ActiveHybrid 7 should get around a 17/25 rating if the claim holds true.
Thanks to: Car and Driver