From Guest Blogger Joshua Gold: What BMW Is Doing in Hybrids in 2013

You may be less likely to tear out your hair during your family’s next road trip if you take that trip in the BMW Active Tourer. This compact hybrid is in the concept stages, but is expected to come complete with amazing amenities that are sure to drive BMW sales as easily as it drives your crew to your destination. BMW is pushing out their new hybrids from Chapman BMW in AZ to dealers across the country. If the average 94 mpg is not enough to drive BMW sales in your direction, perhaps these fabulous, family-friendly features will be.

Big Space Without a Big Footprint

Room for cargo and kids is a must in a family vehicle, but you also don’t want a vehicle so large and lumbering it leaves little room in your garage for toys and bicycles. The Washington Post praises the compact hybrid for maximizing space while retaining a fairly small carbon footprint. The overall measurements are 171 inches long by 72 inches wide, with a height of 61 inches. That’s garage-size for sure. That also comes with four doors for easy entrance, exit and packing, a cargo area that makes packing possible, and hybrid drivetrain with under-floor battery pack. No space is wasted.

Plenty of Elbow Room

A big fuss among families as far as cars go is space issues; kids in the backseat fighting for every square inch of room to call their own. Five passengers comfortably fit in the Active Tourer or you can seat fewer and use the back seat for cargo. The split-folding rear bench can be adjusted in variable ways for your maximum use. It even lies flat completely if your road-trip cargo consists of loads of luggage compounded by large souvenirs. This will be perfect for long road trips or hauling everyone around for soccer tournaments.

Entertainment Help

An incredibly useful feature that makes the Active Tourer road trip ready for the family is the Travel & Comfort system. This feature lets you secure folding tables onto the tracks located on the back of the front seats, giving rear-seat passengers an automatic tabletop on which to draw, play or otherwise amuse themselves. Tablet computers can likewise be clipped to the area.

If the tablet or tabletop is not enough to keep the kiddies occupied, you can always try “Seismic Surf.” This game, which kids can play off an iPad app, is a component in the Active Tourer’s eDrive system, MotorTrend.com reports. It works by collecting driver data and then presenting it to the gamers as part of their challenge. Keeping the wheels spinning in their minds while the wheels are spinning on the road will give everyone a pleasant ride.

Driving Help

While the Active Tourer does not have a feature that compels lost drivers to pull over and ask for directions, it does offer help with efficient driving. Another component in the eDrive system automatically alerts the driver on ways he or she can make driving most efficient based on the terrain. It gets the terrain info from the planned route you give the system and can tell you to let off the throttle or make other adjustments as you trek uphill, downhill, or through blind downhill turns.

Cozy Comfort

Comfort is definitely a part of your road trip when you’re tripping in the Active Tourer, especially with the adjustable glass roof. Thanks to BMW’s use of suspended particle device technology, the glass roof gets darker or lighter with the press of a button, MotorTrend.com and Automotive Business Review point out. The transparency ranges from crystal clear to dark sunglasses and can keep the sun’s glare and heat off the passengers or allow as much light in as you like.

Other interior amenities noted by MotorTrend.com include a customizable screen instead of the ho-hum instrument cluster, an infotainment screen, and a multicolored head-up display. Top it all off with an interior setup using natural wood and bio-materials and you and your family are ready to roll.