BMW 7 Series Hybrid Prototype Hits the Ring

A prototype BMW 7-Series Hybrid was spied running around the Nürburgring's Nordschleife. Potential buyers are invited to wait until the end of the year when they will be able to get a hold of their 7 Hybrids. This is quite an important car for BMW as it will fill the same space in the US that luxury diesels occupy in Europe.

Its ActiveHybrid system is to be shared with an X6 Hybrid but differences in architecture will be engineered so that the two systems deliver characteristics that match these two different cars. At the heart is a 4.4-litre twin turbo V8 motor will run alongside an electric unit that builds up 20hp (15kW) and 210Nm of torque. Merge this with the petrol V8's 400hp (294kW) and 610Nm of torque and you have a 420hp (309kW), 820Nm hybrid superlimo. A regenerative braking system will be employed which will assist in cutting fuel consumption by 15% over an equivalent petrol-only car.

The spied unit is not under any type of camouflage so BMW could not care less if it's caught prancing around the ‘Ring. That could only mean that an official reveal is just months if not weeks away. Incidentally the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show is also only about three months away. One plus one...