X5 40e - Long Distance Commute Questions

[///M5Driver]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some input in regards to purchasing a low mileage 2017 X5 40e M Sport for a work vehicle. Most of my driving is around 20-30 miles each way however I will have days of over 150-200 miles of driving usually all highway at speeds of 60-70mph. 95% of the time the vehicle would come home to charge every week night. Would I see the benefits of the hybrid with these longer commutes? I understand the higher 50+ mpg stats rely on the batteries but I'm unsure how it actually works. Would my application yield those results? Any input is appreciated.

[corduroy]

You'll get a slight eboost from the battery on the highway, but you won't see too much of a hybrid boost with your long commutes.

[///M5Driver]

Originally Posted by corduroy

You'll get a slight eboost from the battery on the highway, but you won't see too much of a hybrid boost with your long commutes.

Thanks for the reply

I'm still slightly confused how the higher 55 mpg is acquired. What would someone typically see if I charged the battery in the morning daily and mostly highway driving?

[corduroy]

Originally Posted by ///M5Driver

Thanks for the reply

I'm still slightly confused how the higher 55 mpg is acquired. What would someone typically see if I charged the battery in the morning daily and mostly highway driving?

I don't know exactly how the EPA computes it, but I think MPGe (from which the 55 is derived from) is a combination of city (which is mostly electric) and the highway test (which is mostly gas and only ~10 miles).

With my daily work commute (~12 miles each way: ~8 miles highway to 4 city), I usually am down to ~10% battery by the end of the day and average 45-55 mpg. Just a head's up, this drops in the winter to ~35 mpg overall.

EPA's highway test being so short is why diesels will usually outperform what's on the sticker for long highway drives. The test starts with a cold engine and doesn't hit optimal mpg until towards the end. I think I was even able to hit 36 mpg on a long drive with an old IS250 AWD (sticker said 27?) I used to have.

We went camping a few times this summer and I averaged 26-28 mpg with a mostly dead battery on my drive (~100 miles @ 70 mph). A full battery helped a little, but mostly when we were off the highway.

How often are your long commutes? If it's pretty frequent, I'd consider the xdrive35d.

[///M5Driver]

Originally Posted by corduroy

I don't know exactly how the EPA computes it, but I think MPGe (from which the 55 is derived from) is a combination of city (which is mostly electric) and the highway test (which is mostly gas and only ~10 miles).

With my daily work commute (~12 miles each way: ~8 miles highway to 4 city), I usually am down to ~10% battery by the end of the day and average 45-55 mpg. Just a head's up, this drops in the winter to ~35 mpg overall.

EPA's highway test being so short is why diesels will usually outperform what's on the sticker for long highway drives. The test starts with a cold engine and doesn't hit optimal mpg until towards the end. I think I was even able to hit 36 mpg on a long drive with an old IS250 AWD (sticker said 27?) I used to have.

We went camping a few times this summer and I averaged 26-28 mpg with a mostly dead battery on my drive (~100 miles @ 70 mph). A full battery helped a little, but mostly when we were off the highway.

How often are your long commutes? If it's pretty frequent, I'd consider the xdrive35d.

Great info. I'll be traveling 3-4 days out of the week and distance will vary as its sales. Some days short drives in town but mostly highway and realistically 20-30 miles in each direction. The car should be home every night however.

[BavarianM]

Originally Posted by ///M5Driver

Great info. I'll be traveling 3-4 days out of the week and distance will vary as its sales. Some days short drives in town but mostly highway and realistically 20-30 miles in each direction. The car should be home every night however.

As implied by others, shorter trips will provide you with the most efficient MPG outcome. You mentioned 20-30 miles each way. If you have realistic opportunities to charge up after a one way trip, you would benefit from what the 40e has to offer.
However, on long highway trips you'll most likely find yourself playing the efficiency game, toggling back and forth between "Save Battery" to generate energy and "Max eDrive". This can work well if you have a shorter highway commute and longer city driving, but in my opinion I wouldn't necessarily recommend it in your situation.
Don't get me wrong, the 40e is a fantastic vehicle, with unique dynamics, but it is not for everyone's situation.

[chumbedi]

Originally Posted by corduroy

You'll get a slight eboost from the battery on the highway, but you won't see too much of a hybrid boost with your long commutes.

And.... after a long commute (low batteries) you're gas efficiency will be low, don't forget you have a heavy battery you're driving with.

[///M5Driver]

Originally Posted by BavarianM

As implied by others, shorter trips will provide you with the most efficient MPG outcome. You mentioned 20-30 miles each way. If you have realistic opportunities to charge up after a one way trip, you would benefit from what the 40e has to offer.
However, on long highway trips you'll most likely find yourself playing the efficiency game, toggling back and forth between "Save Battery" to generate energy and "Max eDrive". This can work well if you have a shorter highway commute and longer city driving, but in my opinion I wouldn't necessarily recommend it in your situation.
Don't get me wrong, the 40e is a fantastic vehicle, with unique dynamics, but it is not for everyone's situation.

Good info, the dealer basically spins it that the battery lasts throughout the entire tank of gas and effectively supplements to get that higher 55 mpg throughout the entire tank. That didn't sound right. Most of my destinations will not have a place to charge the vehicle, just my home overnight. I'm still ok with 25-30mpg without any battery to supplement the vehicle, that's not bad for an SUV in my opinion.

[BavarianM]

Originally Posted by ///M5Driver

Good info, the dealer basically spins it that the battery lasts throughout the entire tank of gas and effectively supplements to get that higher 55 mpg throughout the entire tank. That didn't sound right. Most of my destinations will not have a place to charge the vehicle, just my home overnight. I'm still ok with 25-30mpg without any battery to supplement the vehicle, that's not bad for an SUV in my opinion.

Yes, agreed, especially this size SAV that weighs in at around 5000 lbs. Just to reemphasize a positive, you have an option to choose the "Save Battery" mode on the highway, which allows for regeneration of energy to build up in a good portion of the battery. Depending on how long you are on the highway, it can produce miles of battery only driving when you exit into city roads. Or you choose to use it on the highway up to 75 MPH, but it is wiser economically in my opinion to use it after you exit off.

[///M5Driver]

Originally Posted by BavarianM

Yes, agreed, especially this size SAV that weighs in at around 5000 lbs. Just to reemphasize a positive, you have an option to choose the "Save Battery" mode on the highway, which allows for regeneration of energy to build up in a good portion of the battery. Depending on how long you are on the highway, it can produce miles of battery only driving when you exit into city roads. Or you choose to use it on the highway up to 75 MPH, but it is wiser economically in my opinion to use it after you exit off.

So overall it sort of sounds like it can be a win. My SUV now gets about 14mpg combined. I just didnt want to run out of battery in 10 miles and only get 20mpg ish and regret not buying the N55 or N63.

[BriceApp]

We have a 2016 40e and it's my wife's car. Her commute is only 10 miles each way, so virtually all electric as we charge every evening. Our current tank of gas we have 400 miles on 1/2 a tank. This is with other mixed driving too.

Now, when we went on vacation for a week this summer, we did not have a way to charge it all week. So, between all gas and regenerative battery power we averaged in the low 20's mpg.

As someone else stated you can put it in battery save mode on the interstate and it generally will not charge past 53%. This is good so that when you exit the interstate or get stuck in traffic it will use the battery instead of running the engine.

It never fully depletes the battery, as the electric motor gives eboost if you are on engine power and need extra acceleration it kicks in. It is quite amazing the combination and it's ability to propel a 5200lbs vehicle.

[CanadianLurker]

Originally Posted by ///M5Driver

So overall it sort of sounds like it can be a win. My SUV now gets about 14mpg combined. I just didnt want to run out of battery in 10 miles and only get 20mpg ish and regret not buying the N55 or N63.

What about weekends? When you throw that in and use the 40e to run to the grocery store, etc, there's a good chance you can do it totally or almost totally electric.

[///M5Driver]

Originally Posted by CanadianLurker

What about weekends? When you throw that in and use the 40e to run to the grocery store, etc, there's a good chance you can do it totally or almost totally electric.

Definitely can see an advantage on the weekends as most of our errands are very close to the house all 35/45mph city driving. Also found out from the dealer the vehicle's charger can work on 110 or 220, can you guys confirm this? I have both in the garage.

Thanks again for the info.
Chris

[corduroy]

It should comes with a cable to charge on 110v (it should be in the floor of the trunk). I think it takes 8-10 hours to fully charge over 110v. It's fine for overnight, but I would randomly get faults over 110v (although, I did have to use an extension cord with the cable, so that's probably why).

For 220/240 (xdrive40e has a max of 16 amps @ 3.6kWh with the onboard charger), it takes 2.5-3 hours to fully charge the battery. It's nice being able to run errands in the morning, plug in and be fully charged from empty in 2.5-3 hours to run errands later with electric.

You can find 240v/16amp charging cables for like $200 online. Charging stations aren't necessary, I have a Chargepoint station. But mine is mounted outside and I had to run a new line for ~120 feet so I opted to take advantage of a bunch of rebates.

[///M5Driver]

Originally Posted by corduroy

It should comes with a cable to charge on 110v (it should be in the floor of the trunk). I think it takes 8-10 hours to fully charge over 110v. It's fine for overnight, but I would randomly get faults over 110v (although, I did have to use an extension cord with the cable, so that's probably why).

For 220/240 (xdrive40e has a max of 16 amps @ 3.6kWh with the onboard charger), it takes 2.5-3 hours to fully charge the battery. It's nice being able to run errands in the morning, plug in and be fully charged from empty in 2.5-3 hours to run errands later with electric.

You can find 240v/16amp charging cables for like $200 online. Charging stations aren't necessary, I have a Chargepoint station. But mine is mounted outside and I had to run a new line for ~120 feet so I opted to take advantage of a bunch of rebates.

Ahh ok so it requires a completely different cable then. They said I could put a 220v adapter on the end of the provided cable and it would work. I was skeptical of that. We are flying tomorrow to pick it up and taking 2-3 day vacation driving it back. Thanks for the info!

[corduroy]

Originally Posted by ///M5Driver

Ahh ok so it requires a completely different cable then. They said I could put a 220v adapter on the end of the provided cable and it would work. I was skeptical of that. We are flying tomorrow to pick it up and taking 2-3 day vacation driving it back. Thanks for the info!

Yup, you need a different cable. Man, I'm not sure if you got it at a BMW dealership or other, but it's like they all don't know, lol. I keep being told different things by my local BMW dealership, no matter how wrong. Well-intentioned, but wrong, lol.

Congrats on the purchase BTW!

[///M5Driver]

Originally Posted by corduroy

Yup, you need a different cable. Man, I'm not sure if you got it at a BMW dealership or other, but it's like they all don't know, lol. I keep being told different things by my local BMW dealership, no matter how wrong. Well-intentioned, but wrong, lol.

Congrats on the purchase BTW!

This is a trade in at a Mercedes dealer. My local BMW shop is who's dealt most of the misinformation lol! Thanks again

[vivid02]

I have been a longtime selfish lurker and never give my 2 cents but I just created an account to chime in. I was in the same boat as you were about 2 years ago. Similar commutes with the occasional random longer commute trips. I test drove the 40i , 35d and 40e and I went for the 40e. I really enjoy going full electric on small local trips and getting front parking for electric cars. I just did a road trip from Los Angeles to Sacramento and back. I only charged at home and that’s about it. I didn’t charge out there. My avg fuel economy was 25 mpg with family of 4 and luggage. I really enjoy my 40e.

[BavarianM]

Originally Posted by ///M5Driver

This is a trade in at a Mercedes dealer. My local BMW shop is who's dealt most of the misinformation lol! Thanks again

Correct, they are different cables. I actually own both of them:

(1) 110V Only Standard Plug OEM BMW Charger (White)
(1) 220V OEM BMW Charger (Blue) The adapter on it is a NEMA 6-20 plug for 220V, but it can be removed, leaving a standard 110V plug.

See the photos, hope this can clear up a bit of confusion.

[BriceApp]

Just a word of caution if you have to use an extension cord with the 110v charger, make sure it is high quality, shortest possible length, and I would suggest 12 gauge wire. Make sure you are on at least a 15amp circuit, 20amp being preferred.

I bought a decent 25ft 12 gauge extension cord (Ace hardware) and the female end would get very warm. Since it had clear ends, I could see the white (neutral) wire starting to show signs of heat damage. I replaced it with a Monster 12 gauge 25ft cord and it doesn't get warm at all. Not all cord are created equal I guess.

Finally, there are 3 levels you can set the 110v charging on Max, Reduced, and Low. From what I gather Max is 12amps, Reduced is 9amps, and Low is 6amps. Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but feel this might be useful info.

[corduroy]

BavarianM; Huh, I learned something new. I didn't know that the BMW 220v cable could do that. Neat and thanks! I might have to pick one up eventually just in case I come across an open plug in a parking garage or something.

BriceApp; oh yeah, this is a biggie. When I had to run an extension cord, it definitely got warm. I tried 25ft of 14 gauge at first and it was ok but not a long term solution, felt pretty warm. I then tried 50ft of 12 gauge. Just too much resistance and didn't work well. I then (haha) used 50ft of 10 gauge. I then replaced the outdoor outlets, they were about 23 years old (needed to be replaced anyways) and that helped a lot. They sell extensions for the j1772 plug itself but I never had to go that far. It was only about a month of waiting, but I was glad when I finally got my 220 line in, hah.

[///M5Driver]

Made it back to KC safely! We ended up taking the roof kit off after an hour of driving because it was too noisy. I'm assuming a wind fairing/splitter could solve that issue. Talked to the guys at Bootmod3 and found they do have a tune for it and VRSF makes the downpipe. BMC panel filter and 220v charger ordered too. Really happy with it so far! 25-29mpg in the mountains about the same on long highways averaging 80mph.