[cbertels]

Curious what the actual time that trip took, including charging stops.

[Bimmerfun82]

The other thing that catches you off guard with EVs is the dramatic drop off in power with low range remaining.

[bmwdrive]

Originally Posted by Fluid15

Yes this first time use of the non-Tesla charging network was a PITA and I can understand your view of it. But don't let that completely dissuade you from being open to the EV option some day. I thought the idea of EVs was cool but being someone who grew up interested in cars (like most on these forums) I didn't think it was something I would actually buy/appreciate until I spent some time in a Tesla for a full weekend ... so I bought one as a DD. And now moved into a BMW EV. At this point they may not be for everyone or every situation (i.e. where you live, commute, charging options) but can be a great option for a large % of population. My first experience described should be the low point and I learned and can plan better moving forward, although I primarily charge at home and will rarely charge externally.

Great discussion here; my main point to share with this thread was the real life range => 300 miles which was my my requirement that I verified

Range of 300+ miles is outstanding and probably more than most people need. In my experience, I almost never go to a Supercharger. I nightly charge my Tesla and I have about 150-200 miles of range every day which is more than enough for using the car as a daily driver. For long trips, we end up taking our gas SUV because even with the Tesla charging network it's still a PIA to stop for 45 minutes every 200 miles.

My main problem with the subpar EA chargers is not that I need them all the time, but they don't provide the security blanket I get with the Tesla supercharger network. With Tesla, even if I don't pay enough attention to how far I am going, the worst case is that I have to sit around for half an hour while I charge my car enough to get home. That doesn't seem to be the case yet with EA when there are stations with only 2 chargers, chargers not working, etc. That scares me off a bit because I don't want to deal with range anxiety.

[takrdown]

Originally Posted by M3macster

The other thing that catches you off guard with EVs is the dramatic drop off in power with low range remaining.

The i4 doesn't seem to be as bad as most EVs.

Check from the 18 min point on:

[Fluid15]

Originally Posted by unfoundnemo

...
I would say that customer support for both EVgo and EA were useful at least. They answered quickly, were able to restart their chargers remotely, were able to see some more specific errors on their end, were able to start my charges remotely, etc. Only two instances of calling, but both seemed very focused on doing whatever it would take to get me charging successfully.

Thanks - I took your advice this past weekend and called EA Customer Service at a station where all were being used and I didn't want to wait. I gave them the ID for a station that said "Unavailable" and they reset it remotely and told me I'd get free charging (which I'd get anyway through BMW promotion). If I hadn't read your Post I would have thought Unavailable meant Unavailable and simply waited. But a 5 min called cleared if for me - thx!

Originally Posted by danf72

... My main problem with the subpar EA chargers is not that I need them all the time, but they don't provide the security blanket I get with the Tesla supercharger network. With Tesla, even if I don't pay enough attention to how far I am going, the worst case is that I have to sit around for half an hour while I charge my car enough to get home. That doesn't seem to be the case yet with EA when there are stations with only 2 chargers, chargers not working, etc. That scares me off a bit because I don't want to deal with range anxiety.

+1. When I had the Tesla I never considered they wouldn't work, only concern was if they'd be full with other cars. So I'm not happy with EA at this early stage but as I noted above I found they can reset (sometimes?) stations listed as Unavailable. Not ideal but 'possible.' Like you, I rarely will take the i4 on road trips and require public charging as we use the gas SUV for Mtn Biking/Snowboarding/Camping/etc. But if I do, I want flawless charging.

[smatanovic]

Just got back from taking delivery of our i4 eDrive40. I admittedly drove like a fool for much of the trip, but I got similar results to the OP. Very, very impressive, and OMG this thing is amazing.

[Fluid15]

Originally Posted by smatanovic

Just got back from taking delivery of our i4 eDrive40. I admittedly drove like a fool for much of the trip, but I got similar results to the OP. Very, very impressive, and OMG this thing is amazing.

That's a cool feeling! I enjoy the acceleration of an EV and don't typically drive with efficiency in mind - I charge at home so range is not an issue and it's relatively cheap. Always in Sport mode

[mlanes01]

Originally Posted by Fluid15

+1. When I had the Tesla I never considered they wouldn't work, only concern was if they'd be full with other cars. So I'm not happy with EA at this early stage but as I noted above I found they can reset (sometimes?) stations listed as Unavailable. Not ideal but 'possible.' Like you, I rarely will take the i4 on road trips and require public charging as we use the gas SUV for Mtn Biking/Snowboarding/Camping/etc. But if I do, I want flawless charging.

Please I found broken super charger stalls all the time in so-call, mind you this was back in 2017'18'19 when broken things actually were fixed, but plenty of times did I have to switch stations. Back then in California it was common to have really long lines at the chargers and people would get into verbal altercations often about who was there first. I'm sure things kept expanding and they kept deploying better hardware etc since then but painting the supercharger as bulletproof is a bit misleading. Ea is pretty bad and will likely get worse as more cars from Ford, vw, BMW etc are delivered with free charging. I am starting to think the answer isn't more DC stations the answer is to deploy more cheap level 2 chargers at malls and other entertainment venues where you are normally there for a couple hours. If you could easily grab juice on really cheap to deploy hardware during your daily stops you wouldn't need to grab a DC charger other than on road trips. Which is why DC chargers should mostly be on interstate gas stations not at malls or Ikea's. The whole model is sorta flawed to begin with. I am noticing evgo and charge point putting fast chargers at the rest stops, but still lots of room to grow

[unfoundnemo]

Originally Posted by mlanes01

Please I found broken super charger stalls all the time in so-call, mind you this was back in 2017'18'19 when broken things actually were fixed, but plenty of times did I have to switch stations. Back then in California it was common to have really long lines at the chargers and people would get into verbal altercations often about who was there first. I'm sure things kept expanding and they kept deploying better hardware etc since then but painting the supercharger as bulletproof is a bit misleading. Ea is pretty bad and will likely get worse as more cars from Ford, vw, BMW etc are delivered with free charging. I am starting to think the answer isn't more DC stations the answer is to deploy more cheap level 2 chargers at malls and other entertainment venues where you are normally there for a couple hours. If you could easily grab juice on really cheap to deploy hardware during your daily stops you wouldn't need to grab a DC charger other than on road trips. Which is why DC chargers should mostly be on interstate gas stations not at malls or Ikea's. The whole model is sorta flawed to begin with. I am noticing evgo and charge point putting fast chargers at the rest stops, but still lots of room to grow

I'd imagine it will fix itself in the next couple of years when the fast charging stations actually rely on revenue generated by charging to sustain themselves. There's just too much funding and reduced charging plans with manufacturers right now for them to care... it makes more sense for them to gain money by expanding rather than increasing their efficiency or maintaining what's out there adequately.

[bmwdrive]

Originally Posted by mlanes01

Please I found broken super charger stalls all the time in so-call, mind you this was back in 2017'18'19 when broken things actually were fixed, but plenty of times did I have to switch stations. Back then in California it was common to have really long lines at the chargers and people would get into verbal altercations often about who was there first. I'm sure things kept expanding and they kept deploying better hardware etc since then but painting the supercharger as bulletproof is a bit misleading. Ea is pretty bad and will likely get worse as more cars from Ford, vw, BMW etc are delivered with free charging. I am starting to think the answer isn't more DC stations the answer is to deploy more cheap level 2 chargers at malls and other entertainment venues where you are normally there for a couple hours. If you could easily grab juice on really cheap to deploy hardware during your daily stops you wouldn't need to grab a DC charger other than on road trips. Which is why DC chargers should mostly be on interstate gas stations not at malls or Ikea's. The whole model is sorta flawed to begin with. I am noticing evgo and charge point putting fast chargers at the rest stops, but still lots of room to grow

I've seen broken Tesla chargers as well, but there are normally about a dozen total chargers so a broken one is usually not a problem. But it's far from perfect. I have also seen what seemed to be 20 Teslas charging at the same time with no available chargers. That makes me even more nervous when I look at a map and see an EA station with 2-3 available chargers. As more non-Tesla EV's become available, I don't see how that is going to work.

As far as "opportunity charging" at malls and what not, that's great but those don't make much of a difference to me. I charge nightly. I need a DC fast charger when I go on a longer trip. Fast chargers (that work) at gas stations would be nice. Although, to be honest I'm not that comfortable being a sitting duck for 45 minutes charging at some gas station or rest stop in the middle of nowhere. So for the foreseeable future I will be using a gas car for trips.

[voxel]

Originally Posted by Fluid15

TRIP SUMMARY:
Starting with 99% Charge I drove to destination and back home, almost all highway miles. I had A/C on, kept steady speed around 80 mph (75 mph speed limit), Eco Pro and Drive mode ‘B’ (and tire pressure at target +/- 1 psi)

• Total Miles driven = 133.6 mi
• Total Battery usage = 40% (started at 99%, ended at 59%)
• Avg 4.0 mi/kWh

I understand consumption isn’t linear across the range, however I can use this info to estimate highway range available: 133.6 mi per 40% = 3.34 mi / %
--> Total Estimated Highway Range = 334 miles

Next road trip opportunity I’ll increase speed a bit and hold at 85 mph to see how/if that impacts efficiency.

I picked up my i4 eDrive40 with 19" wheels a week ago and drove 200+ miles the first two days back home and my efficiency numbers were excellent but nowhere near yours. You must have had an elevation change downward.

I was stopping every 44-48 miles and consuming 17% in a very flat and warm Florida. I was traveling 75+ mph and estimate my highway range is 260-280miles.

In city driving I'm seeing 3.6 to 4.0 mi/kWh efficiency. With a 80+ kWh pack that's easily 320+ miles.

The EPA range is blended between city and highway so my numbers seems right in line. 280 miles of highway range is excellent though. That's what my previous Model Y and Mach-E Premium AWD Extended Range did on the highway too and the Mach-E has a 99 kWh battery pack.

[takrdown]

Originally Posted by danf72

I've seen broken Tesla chargers as well, but there are normally about a dozen total chargers so a broken one is usually not a problem. But it's far from perfect. I have also seen what seemed to be 20 Teslas charging at the same time with no available chargers. That makes me even more nervous when I look at a map and see an EA station with 2-3 available chargers. As more non-Tesla EV's become available, I don't see how that is going to work.

As far as "opportunity charging" at malls and what not, that's great but those don't make much of a difference to me. I charge nightly. I need a DC fast charger when I go on a longer trip. Fast chargers (that work) at gas stations would be nice. Although, to be honest I'm not that comfortable being a sitting duck for 45 minutes charging at some gas station or rest stop in the middle of nowhere. So for the foreseeable future I will be using a gas car for trips.

I'm really hoping that now that Tesla is going to be opening their supercharger system to non-Teslas later this year, to cash in on that federal funding, it will change the environment for the better.

[voxel]

Originally Posted by takrdown

I'm really hoping that now that Tesla is going to be opening their supercharger system to non-Teslas later this year, to cash in on that federal funding, it will change the environment for the better.

It's federal funding distributed by individual states via their NEVI plans. Sadly.. not all states seem to be onboard with funding Tesla so expect everything to continue to be a haphazard mismash of different networks.

[takrdown]

Originally Posted by voxel

It's federal funding distributed by individual states via their NEVI plans. Sadly.. not all states seem to be onboard with funding Tesla so expect everything to continue to be a haphazard mismash of different networks.

Ahhh I see. More hope being from New England that they will push it as CT has been pretty forward moving with these types of things. Fingers crossed!

[bily]

Was wondering how much past zero you can take the car. Been down to 9%.

[Bimmerfun82]

Originally Posted by bily

Was wondering how much past zero you can take the car. Been down to 9%.

Do they do this to save people from themselves or because the range estimators are terrible/impossible?

[bily]

Originally Posted by M3macster

Do they do this to save people from themselves or because the range estimators are terrible/impossible?

Probably both. No different than in a gas vehicle. Same but different scenarios. Gas you need a gas station. At least with an EV you just need at a minimum a 110v outlet. Either way glad it's there just in case.

[mlanes01]

I think it's standard practice. Pretty sure your tank in a normal gad/diesel car has a small reserve too

[techwhiz1]

Originally Posted by mlanes01

I think it's standard practice. Pretty sure your tank in a normal gad/diesel car has a small reserve too

Every BMW I've had has a reserve of about 1-1.5 gallons.

I always fill up no less than 1/4 tank.

[tjlees]

What a nightmare

Wake me up when the infrastructure is sorted and the range is 600+ miles on a long run.

Love EVs - especially in town with their zippy acceleration and quiet running.

Hate the current EV maturity level - I'm sure horse owners were saying the same in the 1900s about Cars....

And of course it won't change my love of ICE

[techwhiz1]

Originally Posted by tjlees

What a nightmare

Wake me up when the infrastructure is sorted and the range is 600+ miles on a long run.

Love EVs - especially in town with their zippy acceleration and quiet running.

Hate the current EV maturity level - I'm sure horse owners were saying the same in the 1900s about Cars....

And of course it won't change my love of ICE

You will never see all EV from any manufacturer have 600+ miles of range.
The sweet spot in around 300 miles.

Most people never drive 300 miles in a day and paying for the capability to do 600 miles when that happens once or twice a year is crazy.

If you want a long range EV, there will be some and they will be sold at premium prices.

[smatanovic]

Originally Posted by techwhiz1

You will never see all EV from any manufacturer have 600+ miles of range.
The sweet spot in around 300 miles.

Most people never drive 300 miles in a day and paying for the capability to do 600 miles when that happens once or twice a year is crazy.

If you want a long range EV, there will be some and they will be sold at premium prices.

Also, what ICE cars have 600 miles of range? My last ICE BMW, a e91 x drive car, barely got 320 miles on a tank, and I’m close to that in my i4.