BMW eDrive Zones – automatically emission-free in the city.

Electromobility is especially important in urban settings, where it can improve air quality. With electric ranges of up to 80 km, BMW’s PHEV models can manage most commutes without the help of a combustion engine, and, thanks to the latest battery cell technology, range will only continue to increase. At a time when more and more cities are considering so-called “low emission zones”, the BMW Group is making another important contribution to boost electromobility and make it even more attractive – with BMW eDrive Zones, a digital service that is the only one of its kind worldwide.

What is special about BMW eDrive Zones is that as soon as a BMW plug-in hybrid* with the activated service drives into a low emission zone, or similar inner-city area designated as an eDrive Zone by means of geofencing, the model switches to pure electric mode – without any additional intervention by the driver.

BMW continues to expand its leading position in the field of electromobility by introducing BMW eDrive Zones as standard in various plug-in hybrid models. The development of BMW eDrive Zones is based on a BMW Group pilot project conducted in the port city of Rotterdam in The Netherlands.

PHEV drivers with BMW eDrive Zones are now able to exploit the full potential of their plug-in hybrid in about 80 European cities. This innovative service, which enables plug-in hybrids to behave exactly like fully-electric cars in designated areas (e.g. low emission zones), will effectively contribute to reducing emissions even further. The higher percentage of electric driving not only optimises efficiency, but also benefits customers from the perspective of running costs – especially in urban traffic, where electric drive trains consistently achieve better efficiency than a petrol or diesel engine.

To promote emission-free driving in low emission zones and help improve air quality wherever possible, plug-in hybrids with activated BMW eDrive Zones automatically switch to electric mode in those places. eDrive zones are highlighted on the navigation map in the Control Display. A signal also indicates that the vehicle is switching to ELECTRIC mode as soon as it enters an eDrive zone. Within the eDrive Zone, the plug-in hybrid drives locally emission-free for as long as the high-voltage battery's charge state allows. If the energy supply is running low, activation of the combustion engine is indicated in the Control Display.

The benefits of the BMW eDrive Zones digital service can be enjoyed immediately in a large number of major European cities.

All current 58 cities and regions in Germany that have already defined a low emission zone were taken into account. Besides that, there are 20 other core areas of major cities in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. The list will be expanded in the future to include additional countries and cities, so that the electric driving shares of plug-in hybrid models can be increased in a steadily growing number of city areas.

* The BMW eDrive Zones service is now available in all variants of the BMW plug-in-hybrid models BMW 745e, BMW X5 xDrive45e and BMW 330e.