[thebishman]

Originally Posted by LuisBoston

All the folk claiming they won’t take the iX on road trips is baffling to me.

I went on a long trip recently. And I can’t wait for the next one. Absolute joy in the iX. It has longer range, faster charging, and is way more comfortable than my last EV. Win. Win. Win.

I got the iX specifically for longer road trips, as that is the bulk of my driving. I cannot in good conscience willingly and unceasingly burn fossil fuels anymore, and the iX is a great way to be really comfortable in a less bad way.

A little (and I mean little) inconvenience is a minor price to pay for the benefits the iX brings me.

My wife was a little hesitant when we took the iX on a >1,500 mile round trip journey from KC to Knoxville, TN in February, but I convinced her the difference in comfort between it and her Acura RDX would more than compensate for the charging stops, and that I had a plan for any charging issues that popped up.

You know what, she loved the 30 minute stops along the road every 200-240 miles of driving; (remember this was February and I had the cruise set to 80 mph the vast majority of the time on the highway), as it was the perfect time for us to get out, stretch our legs, take a potty break and grab more road trip snacks, etc. at your friendly Walmart! lol.

The point being that road tripping in this car is fantastic unless you enjoy basically driving long distances non-stop except for splash and dash fuel stops, or you are traveling to a DCFC ‘desert’; which is unfortunately a real thing currently.

[SteVTEC]

Hi gents, great thread. Read through the whole thing and appreciate all of the information in here.

Not an iX or EV owner, but trying to wrap my head around long-distance EV travel. The iX caught my interest when I realized it was one of the few if only SUV's that could get near 300 miles range on a charge, which would be enough for some mid-distance type trips for us where we really don't want to have to stop to recharge while en-route, and for one particular 200 mile round trip we make every so often. iX seems a bit hobbled by the slower DCFC rates I'm seeing reported in here, though?

Using ABRP, does the following add-up for a hypothetical trip from the MD/DC area down to Jacksonville Beach, FL in an iX xDrive50? Used defaults in ABRP but set departure SOC to 100%, 600 lbs for extra passengers/cargo, and then 20% remaining at destination, with everything else at defaults.

Is it really 40-ish minutes to get from 10% to about 80% SOC each time, or is that wrong? And would this DCFC "penalty box" of rate limiting kick in on a trip like this, if you do three fast charges from 10 to about 80% in a single day?

Typically our ICEV stops down to JAX are 2 or 3 bathroom breaks and quick dog walks at 5-10 minutes each, and maybe 30 minutes for lunch somewhere and to refuel. So 45 minutes to an hour of stops total. We can do it in a day, just barely.

[ggalanis]

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

Hi gents, great thread. Read through the whole thing and appreciate all of the information in here.

Not an iX or EV owner, but trying to wrap my head around long-distance EV travel. The iX caught my interest when I realized it was one of the few if only SUV's that could get near 300 miles range on a charge, which would be enough for some mid-distance type trips for us where we really don't want to have to stop to recharge while en-route, and for one particular 200 mile round trip we make every so often. iX seems a bit hobbled by the slower DCFC rates I'm seeing reported in here, though?

Using ABRP, does the following add-up for a hypothetical trip from the MD/DC area down to Jacksonville Beach, FL in an iX xDrive50? Used defaults in ABRP but set departure SOC to 100%, 600 lbs for extra passengers/cargo, and then 20% remaining at destination, with everything else at defaults.

Is it really 40-ish minutes to get from 10% to about 80% SOC each time, or is that wrong? And would this DCFC "penalty box" of rate limiting kick in on a trip like this, if you do three fast charges from 10 to about 80% in a single day?

Typically our ICEV stops down to JAX are 2 or 3 bathroom breaks and quick dog walks at 5-10 minutes each, and maybe 30 minutes for lunch somewhere and to refuel. So 45 minutes to an hour of stops total. We can do it in a day, just barely.

The estimate from ABRP looks about right as long as you drive exactly the speed limit. I have mine set to 120% of the limit and that adds a 4th charging stop but saves an hour overall (9h21m driving and 2h49m charging).

Charging 10 to 80% takes about 33 minutes in optimal conditions based on the video here:

This assumes perfectly pre-conditioned battery, charger capable of giving you up to 500A without issue (and that the 350kW capable chargers are available), and no DCFC penalty box by the car. I don't travel that route so others can point out at how realistic this is down that path.

I am not sure how many DCFC sessions you can do before the penalty box kicks in.... but I don't think it will in this case for 3 charges in your plan. In the optimal case, if you drive the speed limit, you are looking at an extra hour in all compared to your gas car. Not too big of a difference on that long of a drive.

[Kennethjk]

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

Hi gents, great thread. Read through the whole thing and appreciate all of the information in here.

Not an iX or EV owner, but trying to wrap my head around long-distance EV travel. The iX caught my interest when I realized it was one of the few if only SUV's that could get near 300 miles range on a charge, which would be enough for some mid-distance type trips for us where we really don't want to have to stop to recharge while en-route, and for one particular 200 mile round trip we make every so often. iX seems a bit hobbled by the slower DCFC rates I'm seeing reported in here, though?

Using ABRP, does the following add-up for a hypothetical trip from the MD/DC area down to Jacksonville Beach, FL in an iX xDrive50? Used defaults in ABRP but set departure SOC to 100%, 600 lbs for extra passengers/cargo, and then 20% remaining at destination, with everything else at defaults.

Is it really 40-ish minutes to get from 10% to about 80% SOC each time, or is that wrong? And would this DCFC "penalty box" of rate limiting kick in on a trip like this, if you do three fast charges from 10 to about 80% in a single day?

Typically our ICEV stops down to JAX are 2 or 3 bathroom breaks and quick dog walks at 5-10 minutes each, and maybe 30 minutes for lunch somewhere and to refuel. So 45 minutes to an hour of stops total. We can do it in a day, just barely.

I drove from Boca Raton to NY, stayed overnight in Charleston. Left there with a full battery and charged on the road and stayed overnight in Va somewhere outside of Richmond and charged up again at the hotel. Never got down to 10%, usually no lower than 20% and charged usually for 20-30 minutes each time, sometimes while we ate so not much time lost. I have driven that run non stop several times during Covid but with an ICEV not EV. I wouldn’t even attempt with an EV.

[Windshieldfarmer]

We can kid ourselves, but driving the IX on an extended road trip will take an extra 15% or 20% more time in terms of mandatory stops compared an ICEV. If you travel at a leisurely pace it’s not a big inconvenience, but if you have a tight schedule or you are traveling with kids, for instance, that extra time is unappealing. The length of stops obviously can increase for queuing, broken chargers, or apparently reduced charging DCFC throttling by the IX.

[exxxviii]

Originally Posted by Windshieldfarmer

We can kid ourselves, but driving the IX on an extended road trip will take an extra 15% or 20% more time in terms of mandatory stops compared an ICEV. If you travel at a leisurely pace it’s not a big inconvenience, but if you have a tight schedule or you are traveling with kids, for instance, that extra time is unappealing. The length of stops obviously can increase for queuing, broken chargers, or apparently reduced charging DCFC throttling by the IX.

There are BEV enthusiasts that openly embrace the "fun" of planning a long trip end enjoying the challenge. My dad is in that category. There are people who love their BEV for routine driving (probably >90% of all miles driven) but would only consider gas for a road trip. I am in the middle - I like the idea of a shorter BEV road trip (like 6 hours driving max) that may need only one or two charging stops. I have only done 1 of these.

Realistically, I will be a two-car household for the foreseeable future. I get the pleasure of driving a BEV, and my wife will always want a 3-row gas SUV. So, for family trips, and even if it is just my wife and me, we will likely always take her car.

My personal max road trip I would ever want to make is around 7 hours - roughly 500 miles. More than that, and I would fly. I could do that trip with just 2 charging stops that would take around 50 minutes total. And they would coincide with when I would likely want to stop for food or bio break anyway, so limited net impact.

[Kennethjk]

Originally Posted by exxxviii

There are BEV enthusiasts that openly embrace the "fun" of planning a long trip end enjoying the challenge. My dad is in that category. There are people who love their BEV for routine driving (probably >90% of all miles driven) but would only consider gas for a road trip. I am in the middle - I like the idea of a shorter BEV road trip (like 6 hours driving max) that may need only one or two charging stops. I have only done 1 of these.

Realistically, I will be a two-car household for the foreseeable future. I get the pleasure of driving a BEV, and my wife will always want a 3-row gas SUV. So, for family trips, and even if it is just my wife and me, we will likely always take her car.

My personal max road trip I would ever want to make is around 7 hours - roughly 500 miles. More than that, and I would fly. I could do that trip with just 2 charging stops that would take around 50 minutes total. And they would coincide with when I would likely want to stop for food or bio break anyway, so limited net impact.

Agree with almost everything you said. I always thought my max daily drive in an EV is 500-600 miles. Only area I differ is that anytime I go somewhere with my wife we take the EV not her X3.

Heading to western NY later this summer, a little shy of 400 miles and will drive using the IX. I don’t have family trips as my 3 kids are all married and have their own families.

My wife and I did a straight run from NY to Fl 2 years ago and that took 19 hours that included 90 minutes of stopping. In an EV at a minimum that would be 6 stops or 3 hours if everything were perfect. Since I am retired the time “wasted” is not that big a deal and I need more breaks than I used to need.

I don’t know how the BMW limits DCFC charging speed when charging multiple times so that would be a potential problem.

[Ludwig Van Beemer]

Originally Posted by elcee

Had our IX40 since September 2022, but can no longer charge it at home since an update done at dealer in March 2024. Love the car and so much fun driving it, but inability to charge at home a deal breaker.

I'm gonna need to hear more about this, because not being able to charge at level 1 is going to make this purchase a no-go.

[Paladin1]

AFAIK there has been no change to the charging protocols in the iX40 - you should be able to charge L1, L2 or DCFC, just as with the iX50/M60. If otherwise, there is something wrong with the software or the car.

[Louis_BE]

Originally Posted by Windshieldfarmer

We can kid ourselves, but driving the IX on an extended road trip will take an extra 15% or 20% more time in terms of mandatory stops compared an ICEV. If you travel at a leisurely pace it’s not a big inconvenience, but if you have a tight schedule or you are traveling with kids, for instance, that extra time is unappealing. The length of stops obviously can increase for queuing, broken chargers, or apparently reduced charging DCFC throttling by the IX.

Kids love the “longer” stops, did a 1100km trip 2 35minute stops to eat, breakfast and lunch and one extra stop the go to the rest room, 15 minutes … On the Q7 we do the same roadtrip it’s not much faster … we always stop 3 times on such trip and a stop typically is at least 15 minutes and one is certainly Lunch so longer typically 30 to 40 minutes.

I really was curious and planned everything with ABRP, but driving back home I just started to look for a charger at 10% …
Big part was in France so driving at 135km/h … other part 125km/h …
So it’s only like 5% longer and more relaxing 🤷*♂️

[JK479]

Originally Posted by ricerboi

I got my iX50 the same time as you in Aug 22. 49k miles and warranty about to run out. I’m going to drive this into the ground. It’s a great daily and a bit irritating for road trips with charging worries and annoying cargo space issues. DA/DAP is great. It’s really fun off-road and in deep snow hooning with the right tires.

Hopefully the battery doesn’t die but since we are all upside down on financing right now we really don’t have much of a choice.

If I had to replace this it would be an iX5/iX7 when they come out in 2026-28. I would wait until the end of the first year when the incentives come out. You know we really got screwed being early adopters on the iX with terrible financing and no discounts along with parts shortages. Never again.

It’s bad- I was looking at the IX 15,000 over MSRP at one point. Now it’s 15 percent off and 10,000 lease credits.

I think the turn against EV’s has more to do with infrastructure (not many we’re doing trips during Covid) where it was a hot commmity verses the realization now that electrify America’s infrastructure is awful.

Might be a good time for you just to double down on a new IX maybe?

[NomoTesla]

Originally Posted by elcee

Had our IX40 since September 2022, but can no longer charge it at home since an update done at dealer in March 2024. Love the car and so much fun driving it, but inability to charge at home a deal breaker.

Originally Posted by Ludwig Van Beemer

I'm gonna need to hear more about this, because not being able to charge at level 1 is going to make this purchase a no-go.

This is not a fleet-wide issue. All BMW iX regardless of software version should be able to charge using all pathways. If your car cannot charge on L1/2 then the issue should be immediately escalated and taken care of.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by Windshieldfarmer

We can kid ourselves, but driving the IX on an extended road trip will take an extra 15% or 20% more time in terms of mandatory stops compared an ICEV. If you travel at a leisurely pace it’s not a big inconvenience, but if you have a tight schedule or you are traveling with kids, for instance, that extra time is unappealing. The length of stops obviously can increase for queuing, broken chargers, or apparently reduced charging DCFC throttling by the IX.

That's us right now. I think battery tech and infrastructure would all need to advance another 5-10 years before we'd be ready for this. Our kids will be off to college and then on their own before that happens, at which point the time pressures will go away. Interesting vehicles and tech for sure.

[ricerboi]

Nah, I’m definitely about $25k upside down on my iX. I custom built my iX50 EXACTLY the way I wanted it with Air Suspension, B&W, and all the bells and whistles. I can change the way it looks/feels with different wheels whenever. I’m picking up another 20” set with all-terrains for it.

Honestly Highway Assistant and ID8.5 isn’t worth the extra $ for me to get into a new car and I’m “fine” with it for at least another 3-4 years.

I already find myself constantly annoyed with the eye-tracking “nanny” warnings when I’m on my DAPP (<=40mph) now, so LKA+ACC at highway speeds is fine for me and I’m fine keeping 2 fingers on the wheel while on long freeway drives. I imagine I would be irritated with HA with those nanny warnings as I’m “looking around the car (toddler in the back, etc).”

It’s fine. It’s love (the drive)/hate (everything else) with this car like I’ve said in many other threads. If I do look to replace my X5 (backup car) with something it would probably be a R1S/EV9 or the Genesis EV9 on the EV side, or a CPO 2020 X7 40i and slap a JB4 on it. The trunk space/dimensions of the iX just doesn’t work for me (golf clubs, strollers, other bulky items) whereas the X5 is just enough.

I’m glad and sad that free EA ends in 3 months. I won’t miss lining up for hours at the EA chargers or having EA anxiety. I’ve milked enough out of EA (probably 28k kWh by the end of the 2 years) to feel good about getting my money’s worth. As much as I hate Tesla (the cars), the Tesla SC network is amazing if at a reasonable cost. Don’t tell me you aren’t jealous driving by all those empty SC stalls while on the way to the EA line.

[IX4ME]

I have have had my IX50 since July 2022. I just crossed over 23,000 trouble free miles. I have had it on multiple long trips (its a road trip machine), including a cross country trip (Baltimore to Washington State) and a 7 state tour. Love my IX, my first EV and BMW. It definitely will not be my last.