The BMW 3-Series is one of the world’s most popular small upscale performance cars. The BMW 330e plug-in hybrid takes the stylish 3-Series and more than doubles its efficiency to 75 MPGe. The only obvious visual sign that the 330e is carrying a 12 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack is the charging port near the driver’s door. It's also decked out with unique chrome window panels and BMW’s Laser headlights.

The 2021 330e increased the size of that battery from the previously available 7.6 kilowatt-hour pack to 12 kWh.

The rear-wheel-drive 330e and all-wheel 330e xDrive pull most of their power from a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine via an eight-speed automatic transmission. That’s good for 181 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque. The 330e also uses an electric motor to push total power output to about 288 ponies.

A cool new performance feature in the new BMW 330e is called “XtraBoost.” When a driver stomps the accelerator into a “kick down” mode, an extra 41 horsepower is available for up to 10 seconds. Energy is usually reserved to maximize the all-electric range. But when XtraBoost is deployed, the BMW 330e uses the battery power to scoot down the road from a standstill to 60 miles per hour in about five and a half seconds.

In 2020, BMW cranked up the all-electric range of the 330e plug-in hybrid to 22 miles. While running all-electric, the efficiency is 75 MPGe. The BMW 330e previously provided 14 miles of all-electric range.

With the 2021 model, BMW began offering an all-wheel-drive version of the plug-in 3-Series. The 2021-Present BMW 330e xDrive, with all four wheels engaged, is slightly less efficient than the base model — the all-electric range drops to 20 miles. The xDrive version has an efficiency rating of 67 MPGe, about a 10% drop.

Plug-in hybrids have two efficiency numbers: one for when the battery still has charge and another for when the battery is depleted. At that point, the car works like a conventional gas-electric hybrid. In that mode, the 2021 BMW 330e’s efficiency is rated at 28 miles per gallon.(The 330e xDrive gets a 25-mpg rating).

The 12 kWh battery pack can be fully charged in about 2.5 hours. Like all of BMW’s plug-in hybrids, the 330e uses an onboard 3.7 kW charger. The JuiceBox^® 32 is well suited to BMW’s plug-in hybrid system. If consumers want a home charging station that can also accommodate a faster-charging pure EV (for later on, or if they own a second EV) a JuiceBox 40 or JuiceBox 48 are better options. Those charging stations with higher amperage still work great with the BMW 330e, but also provide enough power for EVs like the Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla Model 3.