Renewable Gossip

BMW’s first hybrid scheduled to hit the market, the 2010 BMW X6 ActiveHybrid, is moving closer to production. These exclusive spy photos were taken this morning, near BMW’s Spartenburg, SC manufacturing facility. The company’s test driver said the BMW X6 Hybrid vehicles are starting to roll off the production line and will be introduced at the end of this year.

Photos by G the Worm.

The X6 Hybrid’s two-mode full hybrid—which appears in American form as the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid and GMC Yukon Hybrid, and the now-discontinued hemi-powered Chrysler Aspen Hybrid and Dodge Durango Hybrid—has been BMW-ized in the X6 hybrid. The two-mode’s motors, batteries, gearsets and software should add up to a 20 percent fuel efficiency improvement over the conventional X6, which is rated at 20 mpg on the highway. The price is expected to be close to $70,000.

Photos by G the Worm.

BMW calls the vehicle a “sport activity coupe.” Its chief characteristics are a sleek profile, sloping roofline, low-slung stance, short front overhang, long rear overhang, long wheelbase, muscular wheel arches, large wheels, four-wheel drive, stability control, and lots of performance.

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