My new BEV is home

[brosher]

Picked up my i3 two days ago. I travelled ~160 miles away to pick her up in the configuration I wanted rather than wait to order. Jumped right in with the public charging stations to get home. Chargepoint is very easy to use and has a great mobile app. I did have some trouble with a wattstation that said it required EV Connect app which also needed paypal. Turns out it needed the wattstation app and was free, but it took a call to the 800 number to figure out.

So you can cover some distance it just takes time. I am impressed with the accuracy of the guess-o-meter when you put a destination in the nav. I left the last charging station with a predicted 66 miles to destination and 73 miles range in eco pro plus. It held 6-7 miles spread between range and miles to go the whole way. I was wishing it showed somehow the "buffer", rather than having to look at both and subtract.

So far the car is excellent! It's really fun to drive and fits me, my wife and daughter with ease. Although I've owned a bunch of BMW's this is my first with i-drive and all the goodies so I am still figuring all that out.

I almost went with Rex but I don't see my daily use going above 50 miles. After reading about rex being unable to maintain highway speed or maintain speed uphill I decided to go BEV! So far no regrets, however I am disappointed by the reduced charge rate in the latest software. Also BMW Assist failed to connect tonight so I couldn't setup my account.

 

[tiburonh]

Picked up my i3 two days ago. I travelled ~160 miles away to pick her up in the configuration I wanted rather than wait to order. Jumped right in with the public charging stations to get home. Chargepoint is very easy to use and has a great mobile app. I did have some trouble with a wattstation that said it required EV Connect app which also needed paypal. Turns out it needed the wattstation app and was free, but it took a call to the 800 number to figure out.

So you can cover some distance it just takes time. I am impressed with the accuracy of the guess-o-meter when you put a destination in the nav. I left the last charging station with a predicted 66 miles to destination and 73 miles range in eco pro plus. It held 6-7 miles spread between range and miles to go the whole way. I was wishing it showed somehow the "buffer", rather than having to look at both and subtract.

So far the car is excellent! It's really fun to drive and fits me, my wife and daughter with ease. Although I've owned a bunch of BMW's this is my first with i-drive and all the goodies so I am still figuring all that out.

I almost went with Rex but I don't see my daily use going above 50 miles. After reading about rex being unable to maintain highway speed or maintain speed uphill I decided to go BEV! So far no regrets, however I am disappointed by the reduced charge rate in the latest software. Also BMW Assist failed to connect tonight so I couldn't setup my account.

Big congrats! I went with the BEV also. I'm in my second week now. For the first few days I kept staring every few seconds at the guess-o-meter with the expectation that it would soon say something to the effect of "sorry, 0 % left, you need to get out and walk now." So far though (knock on wood!) I haven't even come close to 0% even when driving 60+ miles per day -- in comfort mode no less!

 

[noakey]

Had my BEV now for 3 months... range anxiety completeley gone. Its all about understanding how different conditions and accessories affect the range. Starting a 70 mile journey with 53 miles range doesn't mean you'll run out of juice. Its just means that based on your recent driving, conditions and starting conditions and SOC you might be in for a challenge. But adjust your driving style for a 70 mile trip and yeah ho... 70 miles it is...

For example I know I can achieve 80 miles from a charge without caring about being effiient, but when I need to accomplish my 92 mile round trip I adjust my driving style to suit, based on me having 'learnt' the car...

Easy...

 

[brosher]

I am also learning it may be better to not charge completely if your destination is a free charger. For example, i left with full charge this morning to go 20 miles away. I was parked for 2 hours on a free charger, but could only take the 20 miles charge I just used. If I had not topped off completely at home last night the entire trip would have been free as I could have taken 40 miles free in the 2 hours.

 

[noakey]

I am also learning it may be better to not charge completely if your destination is a free charger. For example, i left with full charge this morning to go 20 miles away. I was parked for 2 hours on a free charger, but could only take the 20 miles charge I just used. If I had not topped off completely at home last night the entire trip would have been free as I could have taken 40 miles free in the 2 hours.

Good plan... its a shame you can't set this on the charging menu... ie charge to x%. A suggestion of bmw tech perhaps..