BMW 530E vs BMW 218i

What's the difference?

Anyone unfortunate enough to hear me banging on about electric cars - or perhaps more accurately, electrified cars - will be aware of my undying love for the existence of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). 

I love them because they offer a drama-free step into electrification. You don't need a big box on the wall to make sure you're charged overnight and because there's a petrol engine under the bonnet, as long as you've got fuel in the tank, your range anxiety disappears.

You can get around town in electrified silence and emissions-free smugness while still planning that around-Australia trip you'll never go on. It's absolutely the best of both worlds for those reluctant to take the next step. A genuine win-win, if you like.

Except that very few people buy them. Their existence in the catalogues of a number of car companies feels like a weary, "We should at least do something" from product planners. BMW has been trying with PHEVs for a while, with selected offerings in the 3, 5 and X5 range. Given the 5 Series has had its mid-life facelift, what BMW calls the LCI, it's time for another look.

Sometimes a name change can make all the difference.

Google used to be called “Back Rub”. The Spice Girls started off as “Touch”. And – particularly in Germany – some premium sedans became known as “coupes”, as they struggled to stay popular against SUVs.

Case in point: what is essentially a 1 Series hatchback with a boot has been more glamorously badged the “2 Series Gran Coupe” since 2020.

Still following the sedan script with four doors, it’s BMW’s tilt at Mercedes’ booted A-Class hatch, the rakish CLA, unveiled early last decade as the Concept Style Coupe and now in its third series-production iteration – though since 2019 a more conservatively styled A-Class Sedan has also existed, that goes up against Audi’s A3 Sedan.

But we digress. Now there’s a “new” 2 Gran Coupe, coded F74, though it’s really a heavy facelift of the superseded F44. Oh, and the ‘i’ no longer exists in the badge, so (M-enhanced models aside) it’s just numbers from here on in. 218. 220. M235.

Regardless of names, does it live up to the BMW promise?