BMW 330e | Fully Charged 

Hi Robert, I've had a 330e as a company car since July last year. Company car tax was one of the main reasons for looking for a PHEV and the 330e worked out over £200 per month cheaper than the equivalent 320d. But since running it, I'd never go back to a diesel. Couple of points to let you know. Firstly, the MPG gauge is indeed the same as BMW use in all of their "normal" cars so only reads up to 99.9mpg. However, there is a smartphone app that shows you your actual mpg. On my drive in this week to my office, a journey of about 12 miles, the petrol engine kicked in on one short fast stretch of road and it showed 565mpg for the journey. I plugged in at work and it did about the same on the return run. It also works out your fuel saving based upon the electric miles driven, so far I'm up to over 500l of fuel saved over 9000 miles. The other point is to say that this 330e is based on the current model of the 3 series, so they had to retro fit the electric gubbins in to that chassis. The new 3 series model comes out next year and there will be a full EV version, which will compete with the Tesla Model 3. I'd certainly look at the EV version as my next car. Great show, keep up the good work.

BMW doors are so perfect, I get your point. It is so satisfying to close them over and over again.

For people , who are not trusting EVs too much , a plug in hybrid is a fine "bridge" to the path , to understand and learn it. I believe its better for them to exist , as people get knowledge about differences of an electric motor and a petrol engine , on the same car. And its good for those skeptical people , they don't want to fully switch to electric, as they dont know if they will get stranded in the middle of the forest , as well as had never had any experience on them on a larger scale than testing it once or never at all. Then they understand that electric motor is not that boogeyman , and its really useful. I believe you shouldn't be hard on hybrids , they're like the teachers of both worlds. I believe thats still better 1000 plug in hybrids than 1000 diesel drivers who dont really know if electric vehicle is right for them at all. Its like an experimental car , I believe its like a bridge , or that helpful rock in the middle of the river to step on and get to the other side.

Slight door fetish detected at 6:15... phwoar!

It was really funny watching you enjoy the doors! Thank you for making me smile as I go to sleep

I love the way, you make the door noise and the German impersonation.. you are absolutely Gas man!!! Love your shows

Best intro Ive ever seen. Laughed a lot and was a breath of fresh air.

nice camera work and colour grading by the way..

I don't see this channel as a car show. That is one that reviews cars to help buying one (or not of course). I see it as a news type show to keep up to date on the state of the art in tech to stay 'fully charged'; i.e., what's going on in the industry in general. From wind power and solar, to batteries, and of course cars. Maybe I got the wrong impression, but it doesn't make me all that interested in whether there's enough headroom for passengers. I don't mind if you do talk about it, but don't feel you have to on my behalf. :) I would really like to see more videos on broader topics like advances in solar, batteries, grid, and the like.

Robert, great review, but looking back over past episodes I thinking with all these PHEVs your driving you need a new channel called Half Charged!

Hi Robert, I have to say despite your misgivings, I thought this was actually one of the best and most enjoyable car reviews I've seen for a long time. Why? Because it feels honest, genuine and unrehearsed! Very refreshing when you see all the other reviews out there, which seem so scripted and robotic, you always seem to enjoy doing these! Really great stuff and keep up the good work! :)

finnally! someone who also feels the quality of those doors ahah

Glad to be a subscriber. Love the insight all the way from Arizona and Utah in the US.

Your reaction to the rear doors had me in splits.

You deserve the Academy Award for Best Live Sound Design

A really good review, and I've seen dozens lately.

I just love how he present about this car, just so entertaining

These review videos of my little baby make me love it even more.

Very nice one episode! Cheers from the continent 😉

As an owner of an X5 XDrive40e, I love this strategy BMW is taking with the cars. The torque right from zero RPM! I wish the range was slightly better rather than 15-20 miles I would love to see 30-40 miles of range. Other than that these are brilliant cars!

So glad to hear you say it out loud: plug-ins are a mixed bag! I am sure it is a great drive tho! :D

Always enjoy your honest humble opinion when reviewing the car of the day. I haven't made the leap into a e-car yet but will shortly. Logistics with charging at work and home have to be shorted first. All the best.

love your style...keep up the good work!

I LOVE the door bit - lol! you are brill - please do more eps :P

Well done. Very informative.

Best car ever. Had this 3 years now and can’t imagine my life without it. 🥰

Love the channel!

"It's a beautiful dor" :)))))) I also love the feel of those dors 👍👍

Good review. Nice camera work and colour grading.

Just for the record, for those who may be interested, I took my 2019 330e for a drive through Canberra (Australia) suburbs into the country at normal traffic and highway speeds last weekend specifically to test the range on pure electric. I achieved 47.5kms before the petrol engine cut in.

I have a 335i and I agree with him about the doors. They are such a pleasure to shut, especially the rear doors.

You mentioned learning how to appreciate the differences in cars over time and experience of driving multiple kinds of cars. It could be a really interesting side project to do a documentary of something like "Unexpectedly Becoming A Car Reviewer", obviously with the Llewellyn flair ;)

Nice light hearted review

The issue with the 99.9 mpg is exactly because you use mpg , if you use l/100km it makes perfect sense, if you are really into economy use km/l. It gives you a better degree of understanding what it cost you to make a certain journey.

Really enjoyed the review. Really fun, thumbs up from me! :)

I’ve been looking for a refresh for the 3 series but I gave up. I’m picking up my new 2018 330e i-Performance TODAY. Trading in my 2012 BMW 550i GT & my 2015 Mustang Ecoboost Premium. I wanted to consolidate to one one vehicle because I’m 20 years old and it’s literally just me. No reason to own 2 cars anymore. I maxed this new 330e out for under $60,000. Happy to find something still with a mid-5s 0-60 time and super efficient.

Rob excellent review as always and you've earned a sub, the way you say, BMW can do doors. You enjoyed that so much I bet you wish you could do their doors 😂😉

I've never seen anyone get quite so excited by door sounds. That made me LOL!

Liked the. 330e very much when I tested it. So much so I've ordered a 530e this morning. Same drivetrain but with 9kWh.

I'd really like to give you 100 likes just for the Doorgasms but i can only give one. Nice reviews, really good for people interested in EVs.

It's staggering how much engineering goes into making doors sound good.

Man, those doors must be quite something! I wish there was a dedicated youtube channel describing car doors in detail and making reviews of them! Rob - its time for a second channel!=)

New camera? This is top tier video quality

Image a complex with thousands of these doors. Stick Rob in there and he will go wild.

Depending on your way of driving, it seems it is anywhere between 12-20 miles. The good thing is, if you run out of battery, petrol engine just kicks in and you continue your trip. If you have 20 miles( 32km) daily commute, and relatively lightfoot, charge at home (or at the job) , you might end up using only electric for a days before you will use a petrol engine. It seems to me like a good compromise.

The door enthusiasm has me in stitches 😂

Test drove the i3 and 330e on a couple of three day test drives. Loved both but ordered the 330e as a company car as it was so much more practical.

I like the little jab at Top Gear

Maybe they should've called this model the 330h and reserved 330e for a pure electric version.

hahahahaah your back seat review was..... acceptable. lol. love it.

you deserve more subscribers 😜

I'm getting one of these in a month or so. why? 1) I only drive 10 miles to work and can charge at both ends. So in theory I could do my whole commute on electric. 2) Company car tax savings - I currently have an Audi A3. I'll save nearly £2.5k on tax (although the government are changing this to make it less attractive soon) 3) For work i can also travel up to 300 miles a day, so pure electric doesn't work for me yet...... 4) It's a well built car with an amazing door noise! Great video BTW. Love the channel.

I understand your comment about PHEV versus full electric. I agree that full electric is definitely the way to go but the prices and availability is currently prohibitive. I am looking to move from a company supplied Diesel to a BEV early in 2020 but the prices are a major disadvantage. The cars that I can afford are not available until later next year so the best that I can realistically do is to get into a PHEV, and the BMW is top of the list, and then move to a BEV once they are available. Great channel.

It's all about weight ratios for me, a PHEV has a large petrol tank, engine and gearbox. When you compare with a REX (BMW i3) it still has an engine and tank, but significantly smaller than the PHEV. However as some of the comments here show, for people who have unpredictable mileage needs for their work a PHEV could tick the box until we get sufficient choice of 250-300 mile plus EV's. My main concern is that people may be choosing the PHEV out of fear (Range anxiety) rather than necessity and I would be really interested to know what the long term ownership running figures are like for people who often use them on longer trips as these will then be 'dragging around' the electrical gubbins whilst not using them very much. Great video as usual! :)

Try to watch and enjoy. All I keep seeing is that mini-Mohawk 😄

Oh man, I love a good door!

There were two on the charge points at Bicester Village car park in the last week ! I had never ever seen one then two appear at once !

The video is so cinematic

If I did car reviews you'd get the same "silly/happy" overly-enthusiastic attitude. You're awesome dude!! :)))

how does this compare to the c350e? In terms of performance and driving dynamics? And also for the transition from electric to petrol, which one is more refined?

What a refreshing review, nice job. Have one as a company car, 25K miles per year. Usual 'average' mileage per month and get around 39--45 mpg. Could be couple hours a day on A roads / Motorway / city mixed driving within 10% of the limit in most places. think the 200kg of batteries don't help economy, I could get better mpg from a petrol (had engine in Clubman before and was mid 40's without trying to be good. It ain't no diesel but for shorter journeys and school run it uses no petrol or pollutes my town ! MOST Importantly my company car tax bill is half.

Yeah... I currently own a hybrid, being a 2008 Nissan Altima. The car has been great and worked perfectly for the 110k km we've put on it. It's a nice family car. We have put a deposit down on the new Chevrolet Bolt EV and hope to have it next month. Very excited about getting a full electric car. I've already had a level II charger installed in my garage :) The problem with hybrids is that you don't get any of the benefits of an electric car. You still have to: fill it up with fuel, book oil changes every few months with the dealer, etc. What I've found is that the ICE shows wear even though it actually has far less Kms than the actual car. We had to have work done to the head to clean deposits even at just 70k Km?? This makes me think that the constant starting and stopping of the hybrid design wears the ICE engine in a different way. Of course, I'm not talking about a plug in hybrid here. But for me... full electric!

So much quality

The door reaction made my day, thank you for being the car reviewer that you are!

I'm taking delivery of a 330e tomorrow. I can't be more frikkin excited!

You might have a different opinion of Plug in Hybrids if you could get behind the wheel of a 2nd generation Chevy Volt. I went from a pure electric to the Volt. With 53 miles of range (and that's a realistic number, not the exaggerated NEDC test), and having full power available in all electric mode, I literally go months at a time without using any gasoline at all. I've even taken several trips that were over 100 miles miles round-trip and made it 100% on electric because there was charging at my destination.

Best intro ever

Interesting to see lots of people in the comments who own or are soon to own this car, not usually the case fully charged.

0 to 60 is good for knowing if you can pull out in front of a vehicle and get up to speed in time. Where I live there is a fast road with large trucks using it, being able to sneak in front of them and not have my car covered in muck is nice. Also, pulling into a gap on a roundabout is much easier if you know the car pull away quickly. The lag when you put your foot down is the car changing to a lower gear first, if you set the gears to manual or sport this should not happen.

Oh what I would give for one more Carpool episode. Still love Fully Charged tho.

Good review and nice to see some thought being applied to even these small battery PHEVs I too have a 330e and also get too and from work on EV mode so as you mention emission free driving through the week. At weekend I travel much further so don't want range anxiety so this is great for me, and I really wish pure EV owners would step off there high horse surely having more people move to electric in any form is better? This BMW has brought me from driving 530i, 335d to a hybrid so a step in right direction and I see other saying the same. Surely any form of EV uptake should be encouraged even if this type of car bring 2% more people lowering their carbon footprint that's a start and it will grow due to awareness

People like to pick on BMWs and say we should all drive light weight Asian cars, well you dont usually get beautiful door action like that on Asian produced cars. Things like that inspire you to feel a bit safer travelling in a car. I like Hyundai etc but you definitely feel its more a light weight. Each to their own preference.

Best car reviewer

I even love 3 series, but the counter that only goes to 99 when the car claims to be able to do +130 is a well-spotted flaw - something one should not expect from BMW.

had one of these for work last year, loved it, shame about the mpg was only 40mpg whilst using along the A14 everyday. but I am buying one next week because it is so much fun to drive and yes on short runs the electric only option is great but the engine will kick in if you go over 40mph.

I'd like to see more cars with like a 100HP 1.0l 3-cylinder turbo engine with a bigger battery support and electric motor rather than a 2.0l 4 cylinder with small battery in this car

The delay is intentional. The pedal is not suppose to be very sensitive to slight changes, so it can save electric energy. It should give you the full power though, when you are trying to overtake someone. In that case you have to punch the pedal to the floor and after a short delay you'll get the full power with all it's inefficiency.

Thanks for reviewing this! I was just researching this yesterday (USA version) and was disappointed that's it's such a tiny kWh battery and such a upcharge vs the 330i. The range mpg is not great unless you use the battery and it seems it will barely get used! My lease is up for my 328dx (diesel, x-drive, avg 41 mpg) and this 330e would have been "the one" but, no x-drive all-wheel drive, and tiny battery, and high price? No thanks! This is fail.

Subscribed

You got a sub after u said cling-ling-ling 👊🏻👍🏻

I honestly think that hybrids or plug in hybrids are a good transition stage for people looking to ease there way into electric vehicles. I don't have the finances to buy a new vehicle, but used hybrids are still in my price point. I believe once more car manufacturers start dishing out all electric vehicles and more people are already driving plug in hybrids, it will be much easier for them to switch to all electric vehicles. The main downside till this point is the cost to purchase all electric vehicles, being only the rich can afford, not enough tax incentives (in most countries, except Norway) and the limited amount of range. People at least where I'm from, want to not be concerned about how far they can drive, because there's always a gas station to get more range on the way. We are hooked on convenience, so until we can install millions on charging stations, that I want running off strictly renewables, and have faster charge time and range, electric vehicles won't be practical for the traditional consumer, sadly.

The sealed / pressurised fuel tank is actually because it can’t burn of the fuel vapour from the tank while the petrol engine is off.

What amazes me is the fact that there is still no better PHEV than a GM Volt/Ampera. It is the only one equally capable in both EV and CS mode, has meaningful EV range and decent acceleration. And it was designed in 2008 and put in sale in early 2011.. Yes, it has arguable exterior look and not very large interior space, but it more than makes up for it.

Great review as usual.

Another great video as usual. I found myself laughing along with you when your MPG changed. Hehe. I am also conflicted about PHEVs and always have been, as I'm one of those odd folks who've always preferred pure EVs. I want to like them, but I just think they were a stop-gap that we never really needed.

I'm getting mine next week. I will basically use no fuel for the next 3 years. I recommend people try it if you get the chance :-)

this BM has one of nicest seating adjustment options and you chose the worst possible.

It does seem that plugin hybrids are destined to be the most expensive option, at the point of purchase that is. Given their complexity and equipment as you say. Still, there will be usage scenarios where they are the best option no doubt. Just at the moment it seems they are for psychological reasons.

Like the intro

Ha, that door thing! Exactly what I did last time at the BMW dealer! They have got their doors right, thats for sure... :-P

I leave petrol in my boat over winter and fire it up in the spring 6 months later and its fine. You can add preservative, if youre worried....

I think PHEV's will be a one generation thing, in a year or two with increasing battery capacity there will be no point in having an internal combustion engine as you'll almost never need to drive beyond your batteries range. I for one will be very glad of that. I drive a Leaf and am increasingly finding that I get to a location needing to charge in order to make it home only to find a PHEV monopolising the charger. I know if they pay for Chargemaster membership then they have as much right as me to charge however if they can't charge they simply use some petrol, if I can't charge I can't get home. I can understand Ecotricity's stance of discouraging PHEV from using their network.

Looks like you are back home already.

This car seems like a quick engineering fix (albeit a solid and reliable one) just to get a hybrid in the product range. That's not the fault of the BMW engineers, they're trying to adapt a current chassis to get this to work. I suspect we will see BMW work their magic for real in the next generation 3'er where they will have had the most up-to-date brief and will be able to integrate a better system into the car properly. i agree though. The points about hybrid use for commutes vs leisure are valid. Imagine everyone running on electric mode between Monday to Friday in built up urban environments...

12 miles! Wow!!

You have a new calling in life. Car reviewer by a non car type person. :o) Love it. LOL

I think plug-in hybrids serve a very good purpose. It puts people into the habit of using a charger, either at home or at a destination. Plug-in hybrids with more than 10 mile range, I think, will ultimately help with the progression of EVs. As Robert said, once people find they rarely use the ICE in their day-to-day commute, it means the change to an EV with 200+ range will be easier and cheaper.

I look forward to when this technology reaches every car. I will take my Skoda Yeti with PHEV.

you're astonishingly hilarious

2017 MB C350e vs 2017 BMW 330e ? Ur verdict will be ?