A lot of people know about BMW’s mainstream entry into the electric vehicle world, the underrated BMW i3 (no, I won’t stop talking about it). Some even know that BMW was in the EV game well before then, courtesy of a fleet of electrified MINIs and the novel BMW ActiveE based on the 1 Series. What’s less common knowledge is that BMW has been working on electrified cars for, well, pretty much forever. In fact, BMW even crammed a hybrid powertrain into an E36 3 Series in 1995.
Where the Hybrid E36 Fits In
Arguably, the first modern BMW hybrid was developed in 1994. It was an E34 5 Series that used a parallel hybrid powertrain. That’s a fancy way of saying it could switch between the engine and electric motors – or use them simultaneously – to power the wheels. The E36 3 Series hybrid concept that BMW developed one year later used a series hybrid powertrain that functioned more like a range extender. So, electric power all the time until the charge is depleted. BMW claims 5 kW permanent charge output was all the car needed for city driving.
The E36 series hybrid, based on a 316i, relied on dual permanent magnet synchronous motor and a sodium nickel chloride battery to travel as much as 38 kilometers without use of the engine. The little 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine was still there, too. But since the car was solely designed with traffic driving in mind, it only powered the electric motors. The car even had an automatic start/stop function, likely a precursor to what we see today on every new BMW.
Despite being available as sedan, coupe, and convertible, BMW chose to use a coupe model for the E36 hybrid concept. That was likely for minimal – but still important – weight savings. Similar reasoning likely went behind the choice to include the retro-cool (but unpopular in-period) “bottlecap” wheels.
This E36 Hybrid is Cool…But it Wasn’t First
The E36 was early to the hybrid 3 Series party, but it was far from the first. Back in 1987, BMW also stuck a NaS (sodium-sulfur) battery into an E30 3 Series. There was even another E36 – a green 325i – from 1992 that details are scarce on. Regardless, all of these concept hybrid vehicles are a far cry from the hybrid BMW 3 Series we know and love today. Which, ironically enough, isn’t currently available in the US. Funny how that works. [Photos: BMW]
