BMW can force hybrid cars to drive fully electric

Speaking at the Los Angeles Auto Show, a BMW chief executive, Klaus Froehlich, said his company could put its own hybrid models in a mode where the car only uses the battery.

Froehlich tells Reuters he can switch the hybrid cars into an all-electric mode if the cars are driving in heavily polluted inner areas of cities. This is probably necessary to comply with strict urban emission regulations now or in the future. In Germany, for example, a diesel ban may already be introduced for certain vehicles in city centers or parts thereof.

According to Froehlich, the hybrid car automatically switches off the combustion engine. It is not clear exactly how this works, but the CEO points to the connectivity navigation systems in the BMW cars. For example, Froehlich says the new X5 has a range of 80km without the aid of the combustion engine. BMW is currently demonstrating the technology to local authorities in several German cities.