How a big SUV manages 85 miles per gallon

TWO FACTORS have changed enormously in the executive car market in recent years.

Firstly, the sort of people who buy high-end motors no longer go exclusively for sleek saloons, with many preferring versatile SUVs (sport utility vehicles) instead.

And, secondly, economy and the environment play a major part in decision-making when it comes to choosing a new vehicle, something that wasn’t quite so evident a generation or so ago.

That’s why cars such as this hybrid BMW X5 is on sale. Not only is it very much a luxury SUV with hi-tech features and sports-car performance, but it also economical. Very economical, in fact, thanks to the plug-in electric motor which makes it capable of more than 80mpg, a figure which would be commendable for a lightweight city car, never mind a three-ton beast like this.

OK, so hybrid vehicles aren’t for everyone. It takes a certain amount of dedication to plug in your vehicle to the mains for several hours to ‘fill’ the vehicle’s electric tank.

But when you get a car of such power and prestige which can return such exceptional economy, the few seconds it takes to hook up to the mains has to be worth it.

It is the first of several such vehicles which BMW is launching because, the company believes, the market is ready for BMW plug-in hybrids, and it seems they may be right given that more recharging points are opening all the time at motorway service stations, shopping centres and the like.

And, of course, hybrids have the benefit of being able to drive on petrol only if they electricity charge runs out and there is nowhere to recharge, doing away with so-called range anxiety which affects drivers of purely electric vehicles occasionally.

So, how exactly does the X5 measure up? Well, it’s BMW’s answer to the Range Rover, Audi Q7 and co and it was first launched in 1999 branded as a sports activity vehicle rather than sport utility vehicle.

This X5 - the X5 xDrive40e to give its proper mouthful of a title - is a luxury model which is both brutish and beautiful.

It combines a great 2.0 litre petrol engine with an electric motor in the boot and together they emit 313bhp (245bhp from the petrol engine and 113bhp from the electric motor) which means this vehicle has the sort of performance once restricted to hot-hatches.

You can drive it various modes which can put greater or lesser emphasis on the electric motor.

It returns a combined fuel consumption of up to 85.6mpg and the emissions are just 77g/km which means this vehicle is far cheaper to run than you would imagine.

The ride is firm but comfortable, thankfully lacking the roll that some big SUVs sometimes have. And it does offer a sports-car ‘whoosh’, thanks to a very efficient eight-speed automatic transmission.

The lithium-ion high-voltage battery pack can be topped up with mains electricity from any domestic power socket, or more quickly from the BMW iWallbox, as well as at public charging stations.

The high-voltage battery is housed underneath the luggage compartment floor, where it is well protected in the event of a crash. With a capacity of 500 to 1,720-litres, the luggage area is only compromised a