. In a vacuum, that might sound fine. But compare that to the gasoline-only 330i xDrive, and it reveals a packaging weak point inherent to some PHEVs.
You see, the 330i xDrive boasts an overall driving range of 437 miles. That is in part due to the gasoline-only car returning better combined mpg — it beats the 330e by 3 mpg combined when the 330e is exclusively running on gas power — but it’s mostly due to thehaving a significantly larger fuel tank. How much bigger? Try 15.6 gallons versus our 330e’s 10.6 gallons.
Put another way, the 330i has a 47% bigger fuel tank than the 330e. Why is this? The 330e’s 12.0 kWh lithium-ion battery pack has to go somewhere, andfinds room for it under the rear seats. This cuts into space that could otherwise be used for the gas tank and the cargo area. The result is less overall driving range for 330e owners than those who opt for the 330i.
Of course, there’s the very important question of: Does any of this matter? If your use case for the 330e is to drive it around town on short trips, then no, less overall driving range won’t be too much of a concern. Being a PHEV, that’s the use case that would make the most sense, as short trips would have you maximizing the number of miles driven purely on electricity.
Still has to carbon emissions-spewing exhaust pipes. In 2022, BMW's still in denial of the climate crisis. As is anyone buying this 20th century yestercar.