In association with MotorEasy
Car of the Year Awards 2024: Best plug-in hybrid for luxury
The best plug-in hybrid cars offer a long all-electric range, reducing fuel consumption, emissions and tax bills. Yet they must still drive well and not compromise on practicality...
BMW X5 xDrive50e M Sport
In general, the fantasy of relaxing on a tropical island involves the gentle sounds of waves on sand and breeze thorough palm fronds – not the roar of industrial machinery. When the BMW X5 xDrive50e is in its all-electric mode, there’s no mechanical hubbub to break the tranquillity, and when its smooth six-cylinder petrol engine chimes in (after its 65-mile official electric range is exhausted), it does so with a cultured, expensive-sounding growl.
The X5 feels expensive inside, too. Its materials make even a Range Rover Sport or Volvo XC90 feel a little downmarket, and they equal the Audi Q7’s – a rival that’s no longer offered as a PHEV.
The X5 50e lags behind the GLC 300e on range and company car tax, and it costs almost three times as much as the Mazda MX-30 to buy. But only the Bentley Bentayga is a more luxurious PHEV, and that’s almost twice as costly as the X5.
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