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      11-15-2018, 11:12 AM   #15
ted99
Lieutenant
United_States
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Drives: former i3>330e, 528i>X5>530e
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Houston, TX

iTrader: (0)

I think this is the optimum range. I traded an i3 for the current 330e because of the coal-cart-like ride of the i3. I have an at-home charger and the current 14 mi electric range is good for 90% of my driving. 37 Mi will be adequate for 100% of my local driving. On a 2000 mi trip to the BMW one-day school, I got 45MPG with no en-route charging at an average speed of 80.1 MPH according to the trip computer. (The white 330e is an excellent stealth car). The disadvantage of a PHEV is that one is carrying around an ICE and a battery. But, it is an optimum answer if you need a long-trip car, but have reasonably short local travel. More electric range is more weight so it's necessary to find an optimum balance. I think the 14 mi of my current 330e is too little, but 37 miles is pretty much perfect. I have the use of an all-electric car for almost all of my use and still have a VERY economical car for trips. As to performance, I've owned a Nissan GT-R, Porsche 991.1 and BMW V-8 5 series. To be frank, unless I was doing a DE (167.2 mph in the GT-R at the 2010 Texas Mile), I never used the capability of those cars in normal use around the streets of Harris County. But, in the usual stoplight grand prix, I am always first off the line and many car lengths ahead by the time the speed limit is reached in my 330e. It is a VERY useful traffic darter. My wife drives an X5 40e PHEV and it does about 50% of her local driving with it's 14 mi electric range. I may get her the new all-electric X3 as a replacement and the new 330e for me. Since this will be my trip car, I may go for the larger LCI 530e if it has the new 37 mi range (which I think is highly likely). Both of these cars fit with my two leases that toll in 2020. I want her in a high ground clearance vehicle because her usual route has her through several intersections that flood 12" in the heavy Houston rainstorms with poor drainage.
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