[JoelGray]

Hi all, I bought a 2021 330e a couple of weeks ago from BMW Swindon. I charge from home using the domestic 3 -pin lead supplied with the vehicle, charging at 6A, but when fully charged to 12kWh, the range shown is only 17 or 18 miles, which is more than a little disappointing!! The car has 45k on the clock. Am I doing something wrong, or is this normal? I was expecting a range of 20 - 30 miles, as described by the sales person!

[gavinwong]

Originally Posted by JoelGray

Hi all, I bought a 2021 330e a couple of weeks ago from BMW Swindon. I charge from home using the domestic 3 -pin lead supplied with the vehicle, charging at 6A, but when fully charged to 12kWh, the range shown is only 17 or 18 miles, which is more than a little disappointing!! The car has 45k on the clock. Am I doing something wrong, or is this normal? I was expecting a range of 20 - 30 miles, as described by the sales person!

2020 330e here with 66k km on the clock. It doesn’t sound like you are doing anything wrong. (Btw the useable capacity is a little shy over 10kwh. I am told BMW leave some capacity for the extra boost / e boost to be available once the engine is running, and also leave some capacity to ensure the battery doesn’t go to complete 0 flat to help with longevity.)

The range you get is going to depend on a lot of factors. The most noticeable is the outside air temp. I can easily get 45km consistently out of it when we’re above 18c, cruise control, highway driving speed set to 108km p hour.
Winter at 5c, can be anywhere from 22km to 28km on the same route etc.and below that probably 20km.
Other factors include how you drive it, road smoothness, incline / declines, etc etc.
The computer then works out based on your trips what to display when it comes to the range estimate at the start of your journey. I still find I get more electric range out of it on the motorway commute than smaller trips around town.

Also, I didn’t have an issue charging off a house mains at 10amps vs 6amp btw. It will speed up the charging time for you. Check what your electrics can handle though

[k755]

Should be set at 10A to get full charge if house electrics ok mine is showing 30miles now its a bit warmer. Has the car had all the latest updates?.

[JoelGray]

Originally Posted by k755

Should be set at 10A to get full charge if house electrics ok mine is showing 30miles now its a bit warmer. Has the car had all the latest updates?.

As I bought it from a reputable BMW dealership, I would hope that all updates would have been completed before collection. Is there any way I can easily check?

[paulockenden]

Biggest factor I find is a) how you drive and b) hills. There’s one place I go to where if I take the more direct route, which involves going up and down three hills, it uses 50% of the battery. Whereas if I take a route that’s 25% longer but avoids the majority of the hills it only uses 25-30% of the battery. But if I drive it like I stole it I can empty the battery on either route!

[lnlyssg]

Originally Posted by JoelGray

As I bought it from a reputable BMW dealership, I would hope that all updates would have been completed before collection. Is there any way I can easily check?

If you haven't already downloaded it I recommend the BMW Driver's Guide app for your phone, it's a quick and easy way to search the manuals. Current version is 11/2023.xx where xx is either .50 or .73 depending on the iDrive version.

[JoelGray]

Thanks all, for peace of mind I contacted the BMW EV ‘help desk’ who have suggested I take the car back to the dealer and have the system checked by a technician. I’m gonna try charging one more time first though to see if the expected range is increased.

[willougs]

This time of year I rarely see indicated ranges above 20 miles when charging from home. Expecting this to get steadily better over the next coming weeks. I also tend to get more than the indicated 20 odd in reality once I start driving.

When I charge from a fast(er) charger at work, I seem to see better indicated ranges, somewhere in the region of 3 to 4 miles more. I don't know why though.

Think the best I've ever got out of a full charge is 36 miles, but as others have said, there's tons of variables that affect these figures, so I've learnt not to get too hung up on any of it.

Also, vaguely recall the batteries are warrantied for 8 years (?) or maybe 6 (?). So potentially plenty of time to run it for a few months and see how it goes.

PS. I have my car set to 16A current limit permentantly, regardless if changing using 3pin charger or the fast chargers at work. Not changed it once in over 3 years.