Disappointed with range

[BrianStanier]

if none of the above parameters is changing while drive...

Which often is untrue. The last few miles of return to home base can be uphill or downhill so I see a noticeably different estimate depending on yesterday's route. And here in the UK yesterday might be 15C, sunny with light winds and today 5C with rain, standing water and gales.
Which is why it'is just an estimate.

 

[MikeS]

I have seen a similar problem. The range appears to be getting worse and worse on my car after each charge. Charged the car last night and when I got in it this morning it estimated only 49 miles! I have been monitoring this for a while and although this predicted range may be extended by 10 miles or so according to actual driving it never seem stop approach 80 let alone 100miles - and I have run the car until the REX automatically starts so the car definitely thinks its run out of juice! Strangely, the app shows consumption of 4.1 m/kw which should equate to nearer 77 miles. I have contact the dealer and they tried to do a reset on the system but it did not work - turns out they were using the wrong codes - hope to get it done again in the next few days. I questioned the dealer and they said - 'We did the reset on our i3 demo and now when we turn it on, in Eco pro plus it shows an expected range of 113 miles! So this code reset does seem a bit like magic..’

I’ll wait and see but at 50 mile range for a full charge they can have the car back!!

 

[BrianStanier]

'We did the reset on our i3 demo and now when we turn it on, in Eco pro plus it shows an expected range of 113 miles! So this code reset does seem a bit like magic..’

Which is what mine did after the update - showing ridiculously high estimates of over 110 miles. But it's settled down now and, usually, indicates around 70-75. So it's not magic, it's just the car optimistic initial guess.

 

[MikeS]

But your 70 to 75 is much better than my now 50 to 60…...

 

[noakey]

But your 70 to 75 is much better than my now 50 to 60…...

My total trip yesterday was 50 miles using 50% of charge implying a 100 mile range with supa careful driving on ecopro+. Indicated remaining range was 35 miles implying 85 mile range. Temperature was 3 degrees fir half and 10 degrees for the return trip.

You need to have a conversation with your dealer, and take along all the data you have collected from this forum item too.

Keep us posted.

 

[juniorbeep]

essentially I ignore the range predictor. If you have the REX you can see in percentage terms how much charge has been used... If you then look at the trip you can see how far you have been. If you have done 45 miles and 50% charge has gone you know if you carry on driving as you are you are likely to get about twice that.... The predictor is no more or less reliable than any ICE car ... used to fill my diesel TT up and it would say 700mile... best I ever got was 500 or so... As I say you are better judging yourself what you get out of a charge and driving to that using the percentages and trip than relying on a gauge that can't really predict what you are going to do next...

 

[mindmachine]

I am seeing my actual range exceed the prediction every time I charge the car. Here in the midwest, US we are currently experiencing temperatures in the 35 deg F range in the early morning and temps in the 45 F in the afternoon. I always drive in comfort mode and am still getting around 82 to 85 miles per charge. Now I have as of yet to need the Rex and I am estimating the total Ev range based on SOC used vs miles driven and calculating the remaining range. In warmer weather I was able to get close to 97 miles, again in comfort mode with the AC on. In city driving when it was warmer and at speeds of 25 to 35 or 40 MPH I am able to average 6 miles/kwh.
My software was last updated at the end of august 29 or 30th.

My predicted ranges are way less then what I said above, I would say they are running about 20% to 25 % less than what I am actually achieving.

 

[PipPip]

essentially I ignore the range predictor. If you have the REX you can see in percentage terms how much charge has been used... If you then look at the trip you can see how far you have been. If you have done 45 miles and 50% charge has gone you know if you carry on driving as you are you are likely to get about twice that.... The predictor is no more or less reliable than any ICE car ... used to fill my diesel TT up and it would say 700mile... best I ever got was 500 or so... As I say you are better judging yourself what you get out of a charge and driving to that using the percentages and trip than relying on a gauge that can't really predict what you are going to do next...

I have adopted the ignoring the range predictor approach today. I drove 32 miles today to work and back on ecopro+ with all aux items like lights, radio, fan off and I achieved 97% driving efficiency per the app. My state of charge is 57% at the end of this, suggesting pretty much my maximum range at almost 100% efficient driving is 74 miles. This is still incredibly disappointing. My company car scheme manager has discussed with BMW and it's going back next week for them to have a look at it as they agree it sounds like something is wrong.

 

[jadnashuanh]

Check your tire pressures!

 

[PipPip]

Would tyre pressures really make such a huge difference? I will check mine this weekend.
In the meantime as advised on here I have ignored the predicted range and just driven the car from full charge to the point where the Rex engine kicks in automatically. I did all of these miles away from motorways, a mix of 30mph and 50mph speed limits and drove with extreme car, artifically so just to see what I could achieve in terms of range. I kept the car in ecopro and ecopro+ the whole time, lights, aircon/fan were off most of the time. I just had the radio on. Apart from 10 miles this morning I was the sole occupant in the car.
Total actual range until the Rex kicked in was....60 miles. So unless my tyre pressures are somehow created a massive issue, I genuinely believe that my car has a fault. If BMW say there is no fault then in my view I have been misled by their marketing material and I will seek to reject the car as I cant live with a c50 mile range for normal driving.

 

[flin5888]

I have driven my bev i3 for 2 wks now in LA area. Been consistently getting 100+ miles range. I drive in comfort mode but try to keep AC off as much as possible. My i remote app efficiency score is almost always at least 80% (i get 100% score if use eco plus)

I would say improve your driving skill. Accelerate and decelerate gently. Avoid unnecessary stops so u can coast as much as possible. Anticipate road conditions well ahead.

 

[Ferdball]

I have driven my bev i3 for 2 wks now in LA area. Been consistently getting 100+ miles range. I drive in comfort mode but try to keep AC off as much as possible. My i remote app efficiency score is almost always at least 80% (i get 100% score if use eco plus)

I would say improve your driving skill. Accelerate and decelerate gently. Avoid unnecessary stops so u can coast as much as possible. Anticipate road conditions well ahead.

He is driving as you describe above, yet there is a 40 mile range difference between your two cars.

 

[MikeS]

essentially I ignore the range predictor. If you have the REX you can see in percentage terms how much charge has been used... If you then look at the trip you can see how far you have been. If you have done 45 miles and 50% charge has gone you know if you carry on driving as you are you are likely to get about twice that.... The predictor is no more or less reliable than any ICE car ... used to fill my diesel TT up and it would say 700mile... best I ever got was 500 or so... As I say you are better judging yourself what you get out of a charge and driving to that using the percentages and trip than relying on a gauge that can't really predict what you are going to do next...

I have adopted the ignoring the range predictor approach today. I drove 32 miles today to work and back on ecopro+ with all aux items like lights, radio, fan off and I achieved 97% driving efficiency per the app. My state of charge is 57% at the end of this, suggesting pretty much my maximum range at almost 100% efficient driving is 74 miles. This is still incredibly disappointing. My company car scheme manager has discussed with BMW and it's going back next week for them to have a look at it as they agree it sounds like something is wrong.

My experience is just as disappointing as yours. Since my last charge I have driven only in eco pro and quite conservatively. My app currently shows 82% efficiency and 5 stars for everything accept acceleration which shows 4 (I exceeded 56 mph for a few minutes to overtake) and aux consumption that shows only 1 star - evidently owing to something to do with the fan (next tot the fan symbol it shows +11 miles - which seems strange as I have been driving in eco pro so the climate control should be off!

Current SOC is 56% with 38 mile range remaining which equates to only about 67 mils full range!!!

 

[WoodlandHills]

Those are all good tips to maximize the range of any EV, but I wonder if it is reasonable of BMW to expect their customers to alter their driving habits to such an extent simply to meet range expectations that were created by BMW in the first place. By widely promoting a certain range number that is only achievable by extraordinary driving techniques BMW may have shot themselves in the foot as far as credibility goes. They have only themselves to blame if the public has unreasonable range expectations after reading the official BMW literature since there are zero disclaimers regarding the necessity to employ what the general public would consider Hypermiling to achieve the stated range.

 

[stumbledotcom]

My daily commute is approximately 10 miles round trip. The route is all city streets. Stop sign or traffic light at every corner. Significant hills. I only drive in Comfort. Use climate control and accessories without restrictions. The app typically rates my efficiency in the 18 to 22% range. In other words, I have not altered my driving style for efficiency beyond learning to use regen braking. Still the app puts my BEV's average consumption at 4.0 mi/kWh. I routinely see estimated range in the 70s when fully charged.

I'm satisfied with these results. The delta between advertised range/efficiency and what I actually achieve tracks my experiences in my other vehicles. My 328i is rated 18mpg city but I typically saw 12 or so when driven as described above.

However, there's a huge gap between the driving style/efficiency I get and that described by the original poster. Something else has to be going on.

 

[PipPip]

I have driven my bev i3 for 2 wks now in LA area. Been consistently getting 100+ miles range. I drive in comfort mode but try to keep AC off as much as possible. My i remote app efficiency score is almost always at least 80% (i get 100% score if use eco plus)

I would say improve your driving skill. Accelerate and decelerate gently. Avoid unnecessary stops so u can coast as much as possible. Anticipate road conditions well ahead.

I have only 3% room for improvement matey, my efficiency score was 97% for the vast majority of the 60 miles. My worst score was 77% for 10 miles this morning with my 2 young kids on board as I had to run the heater to keep them warm. I am an incredibly skilful driver
(Advanced driver qual, track days, skid pans, 28 years of driving dozens of cars including performance cars with not so much as a near miss). I have said it a few times now, I am absolutely certain my car has an issue and BMW seem to believe me as they are taking it in for assessment. If my experience is what they regard as acceptable then I'm not having it.

 

[jadnashuanh]

WHen a tire pressure is low, it's like you are constantly driving uphill - lots more internal rolling resistance. Others have also noted that the car seems to track much better in cross-winds when it has the specified tire pressure. The TPMS won't trigger a warning until they tires get quite a bit too low, and that assumes that they were reset properly when the tire pressure was initially set. Basically, the TMPS looks for a loss of pressure from when it was reset, and does not actually use the real pressure (at least as I understand it). That's why it is imperative to only reset them when they have been properly filled up.

 

[PipPip]

Just checked my tyre pressures. All fine so we can rule that one out.

 

[Zele1000]

What is the value of the battery capacity in the board computer service menu?

 

[jadnashuanh]

What is the value of the battery capacity in the board computer service menu?

If for nothing else, it is what BMW uses to decide if your battery qualifies for a warranty replacement, and is a fair guide to capacity loss over time. The warranty calls for at least 70% capacity after 8-years or 100,000-miles, or it will be fixed under warranty.