[NYRangers79]

My wife is looking to lease a new ix but is worried about range. She makes a trip once a month for work its around a 300 mile round trip. Her work only has level 2 chargers and they are mostly taken up so not close or easy to access. Would you be worried about running out of range at some point during this trip? I am looking for real world experiences to ease her mind. I believe she will be fine. Even if she can get on one of the chargers for 1 hour that week all should be good but I see mileage ranges all over the place on the internets. Thanks in advance

[ggalanis]

Originally Posted by NYRangers79

My wife is looking to lease a new ix but is worried about range. She makes a trip once a month for work its around a 300 mile round trip. Her work only has level 2 chargers and they are mostly taken up so not close or easy to access. Would you be worried about running out of range at some point during this trip? I am looking for real world experiences to ease her mind. I believe she will be fine. Even if she can get on one of the chargers for 1 hour that week all should be good but I see mileage ranges all over the place on the internets. Thanks in advance

1h on a lvl2 charger will change almost nothing... Not sure how much battery charge you thinknthat 1h will get her but I wouldn't count on that.

Provide the general starting and end points of the trip; there will likely be some fast chargers around/along the way. Odds are in winter conditions she will need to charge to make it back. In summer she might not, but that depends how long she stays at the destination and if she is going to be driving at all while there.

[Bmwno6]

From my experience she would need to charge at a fast charger somewhere on the way back. I do a 360 mile round trip from time to time. I use about 60% of the charge one way and charge at a fast charger to 90% when I head back. I have seen typical summer performance is about 3 mi/kwr and winter is 2.7mi/kwr. Depending on the route there should be some fast chargers along the way. My level 2 charger at home only provides 11 kWh/hr or about 33+ miles of range. and that is the limit the BMW will accept from a level 2.

[NYRangers79]

Originally Posted by Bmwno6

From my experience she would need to charge at a fast charger somewhere on the way back. I do a 360 mile round trip from time to time. I use about 60% of the charge one way and charge at a fast charger to 90% when I head back. I have seen typical summer performance is about 3 mi/kwr and winter is 2.7mi/kwr. Depending on the route there should be some fast chargers along the way. My level 2 charger at home only provides 11 kWh/hr or about 33+ miles of range. and that is the limit the BMW will accept from a level 2.

Around how long do you wait to get back to 90% at the fast charger

[darylp310]

I make the trip from Los Angeles to Vegas all the time in my iX. It's 280 miles and I usually have 15% left when I arrive. I drive really fast too which is inefficient. If she gets an iX 50 and keeps the speeds under 75 mph, she would be more efficient than me, and should be totally fine.

If she stays under 70 mph she can probably get north of 350 miles of a full charge. Here's a good video to boost your confidence:

Can you roughly explain what cities she'd be traveling between? We can look at a few route plannings to help ease your concerns.

[NYRangers79]

Originally Posted by darylp310

I make the trip from Los Angeles to Vegas all the time in my iX. It's 280 miles and I usually have 15% left when I arrive. I drive really fast too which is inefficient. If she gets an iX 50 and keeps the speeds under 75 mph, she would be more efficient than me, and should be totally fine.

If she stays under 70 mph she can probably get north of 370 miles of a full charge. Here's a good video to boost your confidence:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWBVwR-jeV0

Can you roughly explain what cities should be traveling between? We can look at a few route plannings to help ease your concerns.

That’s great to hear. It would be from say Hartford ct to florham park nj. Usually once a month with light driving during the week. No more than 5-10 min

[darylp310]

Originally Posted by NYRangers79

That’s great to hear. It would be from say Hartford ct to florham park nj. Usually once a month with light driving during the week. No more than 5-10 min

Looks like there are Electrify America fast chargers on both the i-95 near Stamford and the i-87 near Danbury. So she has plenty of options no matter which route she takes.

No need to risk making the whole round trip without stopping to charge. (Important note: in cold weather the total range of the car can decrease by 25%, you'll want to be extra careful.)

Checking the maps I see that she'll have good public fast charging stations along those routes.

[NYRangers79]

Originally Posted by darylp310

Looks like there are Electrify America fast chargers on both the i-95 near Stamford and the i-87 near Danbury. So she has plenty of options no matter which route she takes.

No need to risk making the whole round trip without stopping to charge. (Important note: in cold weather the total range of the car can decrease by 25%, you'll want to be extra careful.)

Checking the maps I see that she'll have good public fast charging stations along those routes.

How long do these bad boys take on a fast charger to charge?

[darylp310]

Originally Posted by NYRangers79

How long do these bad boys take on a fast charger to charge?

Typically 30 minutes is all you need to charge from 20-80%.

You'll learn over time that the charging rate goes down substantially after 80%, so you'll rarely do that unless its critical.

[darylp310]

Making a 300 mile trip in one day is so easy in the iX. In my previous cars I'd be exhausted after 4-5 hours in the car, but somehow the iX is so quiet, comfortable, and steady, it's like sitting on a couch and just listening to your favorite music and podcasts for half the day! With the excellent cruise control/ADAS system you can really just enjoy the scenery and arrive at your destination completely refreshed!!

[NYRangers79]

Originally Posted by darylp310

Typically 30 minutes is all you need to charge from 20-80%.

You'll learn over time that the charging rate goes down substantially after 80%, so you'll rarely do that unless its critical.

Thanks. That’s not bad at all. She’s got serious range anxiety because by her actual work there aren’t many stations let alone fast chargers. Most are slower and always taken.

[NYRangers79]

Originally Posted by darylp310

Making a 300 mile trip in one day is so easy in the iX. In my previous cars I'd be exhausted after 4-5 hours in the car, but somehow the iX is so quiet, comfortable, and steady, it's like sitting on a couch and just listening to your favorite music and podcasts for half the day! With the excellent cruise control/ADAS system you can really just enjoy the scenery and arrive at your destination completely refreshed!!

This Made her happy lol

[Pictor]

Originally Posted by NYRangers79

How long do these bad boys take on a fast charger to charge?

It really depends. You don't "top off" an EV like you would on a gas car. 10-15 minutes on a DC charger of 150kW or more should give you another 100+ miles.

The iX, and most EVs, will charge very slowly above 80% on a DCFC so it's pointless to top charge on the road. The exception being if you have time to spare on a L2 charger at a hotel.

Comparing your Hartford to NJ drive to someone in Denver will also be a poor comparison. CT and NJ (and metro NY) has slower top speeds and less elevation changes than just about any 300 mile trip from Denver. Speed and elevation change will have a significant negative impact on range. I've done Seattle to Vancouver BC round trip (~300miles) and arrived home with 5% remaining doing about 75-85mph in spring weather. Doing the same trip in winter would probably require a 10 minute DC charge along the way. Your wife will probably be fine in most weather expect winter. However, I would be willing to bet she will want to stop for coffee or a bio break on that drive and a stop at a location with bathroom or coffee will be enough for her to add enough buffer to comfortably make it even in winter. There are plenty of locations along that route to DC charge on either the Merritt Parkway or I-95. Take a look at A Better Route Planner or PlugShare to find your options.

[Bmwno6]

Originally Posted by NYRangers79

Around how long do you wait to get back to 90% at the fast charger

About 40-45 min if I remember correctly. The EA chargers at that location are not consistent.

[LuisBoston]

Originally Posted by NYRangers79

That’s great to hear. It would be from say Hartford ct to florham park nj. Usually once a month with light driving during the week. No more than 5-10 min

There are many fast chargers. A 10 minute stop will be enough for the round trip, so long as she does it when about 10-30% state of charge and hits the peak charging curve. She won’t need to return home fully charged, just enough to make it home with some buffer.



Will definitely need the stop in the winter.

[Tigershark321]

I think the reality is how to travel a distance and understand that you don't always need to charge the full amount. Kyle Connor's YouTube channel already has posts, and I would recommend watching other long-range trips he has done to understand his mentality of "Charge Hopping."

So you don't necessarily have to sit at the charge station the entire time. You could figure out a way to use the remaining charge on the way back, then make the stop and the amount of time needed to continue on. The BMW nav does a great job at this, but sometimes you have to be smarter than the algorithm it uses. The car tends to be pessimistic and has more capability than BMW believed. Just stick to 70mph as that is the sweet spot for range and speed, and obviously, more range is gained by going slower.

[NYRangers79]

Thanks guys. She has an x7 now but the lease is expiring soon. We test drove the 2025 ix 50. They have the build she wants. This helps the decision. We would still
Like to test out the x5e as a slight alternative to the ix. Has anyone cross shipped those before buying their ix?

[javapro]

Originally Posted by NYRangers79

Thanks guys. She has an x7 now but the lease is expiring soon. We test drove the 2025 ix 50. They have the build she wants. This helps the decision. We would still
Like to test out the x5e as a slight alternative to the ix. Has anyone cross shipped those before buying their ix?

I think you meant to say X5 50e.

[NYRangers79]

Originally Posted by javapro

I think you meant to say X5 50e.

Yeah that one. I’m drive an x3 m40. These models are too big for me but she loves them.

[Pictor]

The thing with any plug-in hybrid is that you're really getting a compromised implementation of both ICE and BEV. I initially considered it for one of our cars until I did a long road trip in a rental PHEV. What you get on a long trip is the ICE engine power and acceleration with the complexity and added weight of a hybrid. The Battery portion of a PHEV is okay, but underpowered so you really need both gas and battery to work together. The battery side of a PHEV also lacks good regeneration to recover energy like you get on a dual motor BEV. Charging was the surprising thing for me, even though it should have been obvious. When I rented the PHEV for a road trip, I had several rest stops with the family at locations with DC charging but the PHEV only supported AC charging. So I could have charged up but it would have taken HOURS to do so. MB has a PHEV with DC charging but you end up with a small battery and the same 40 minute to charge on a DC charger to get to 80% and you only get very limited range given the small battery. So long road trips on a PHEV means gas engine almost exclusively.

So, while a PHEV seems like a good option, in practice it's not that great. For around town use, the PHEV will get you good gas mileage and you might be able to use the battery for most of your trip although at slow acceleration. Around town, any BEV would kick butt in driving experience assuming you can charge at home. On a road trip, the battery portion of a PHEV won't do anything for you and you end up driving on the ICE only which tends to be lower powered than if you have a charged battery on the PHEV.

This is a personal choice but for me I wouldn't half ass it. Either go ICE or go BEV.

[LuisBoston]

Originally Posted by Pictor

The thing with any plug-in hybrid is that you're really getting a compromised implementation of both ICE and BEV. I initially considered it for one of our cars until I did a long road trip in a rental PHEV. What you get on a long trip is the ICE engine power and acceleration with the complexity and added weight of a hybrid. The BEV portion is okay, but underpowered so you really need both gas and battery to work together. The battery side of a PHEV also lacks good regeneration to recover energy like you get on a dual motor BEV. Charging was the surprising thing for me, even though it should have been obvious. When I rented the PHEV for a road trip, I had several rest stops with the family at locations with DC charging but the PHEV only supported AC charging. So I could have charged up but it would have taken HOURS to do so. MB has a PHEV with DC charging but you end up with a small battery and the same 40 minute to charge on a DC charger to get to 80% and you only get very limited range given the small battery.

So, while a PHEV seems like a good option, in practice it's not that great. For around town use, the PHEV will get you good gas mileage and you might be able to use the battery for most of your trip although at slow acceleration. Around town, any BEV would kick butt in driving experience assuming you can charge at home. On a road trip, the battery portion of a PHEV won't do anything for you and you end up driving on the ICE only which tends to be lower powered than if you have a charged battery on the PHEV.

This is a personal choice but for me I [...]

💯%

I did this personal calculus in 2021 comparing a Polestar 2 and Volvo V60 Recharge (phev).

The V60 I love as a wagon, but it was full of compromises and still required plugging in. A lot. And when I mashed the pedal, the ICE would kick on, whine and make a racket. And on road trips, STILL required gas!

That’s not why I wanted an EV.

So the Polestar 2 won.

[Bmwno6]

Originally Posted by Pictor

The thing with any plug-in hybrid is that you're really getting a compromised implementation of both ICE and BEV. I initially considered it for one of our cars until I did a long road trip in a rental PHEV. What you get on a long trip is the ICE engine power and acceleration with the complexity and added weight of a hybrid. The Battery portion of a PHEV is okay, but underpowered so you really need both gas and battery to work together. The battery side of a PHEV also lacks good regeneration to recover energy like you get on a dual motor BEV. Charging was the surprising thing for me, even though it should have been obvious. When I rented the PHEV for a road trip, I had several rest stops with the family at locations with DC charging but the PHEV only supported AC charging. So I could have charged up but it would have taken HOURS to do so. MB has a PHEV with DC charging but you end up with a small battery and the same 40 minute to charge on a DC charger to get to 80% and you only get very limited range given the small battery. So long road trips on a PHEV means gas engine almost exclusively.

So, while a PHEV seems like a good option, in practice it's not that great. For around town use, the PHEV will get you good gas mileage and you might be able to use the battery for most of your trip although at slow acceleration. Around town, any BEV would kick butt in driving experience assuming you can charge at home. On a road trip, the battery portion of a PHEV won't do anything for you and you end up driving on the ICE only which tends to be lower powered than if you have a charged battery on the PHEV.

This is a personal choice but for me I wouldn't half ass it. Either go ICE or go BEV.

I went through similar evaluation and after getting the 2024 iX (which I mostly drive) we replaced my wife's 2020X5 with a new 2024 X5 (gasoline only).

I do not like the complexity of integrating the two technologies. BTW the range of the new X5 (3L Turbo) is really impressive !