[Fish Fingers]

I would go as far as to say the car is as close to 'all things to all men' as you can get for some people. Particularly if you charge at home.

It's practical, refined and fast - yet economical.

No charging concerns for longer journeys, but cheap to run if the majority of journeys are under 40-50 miles per day.

I used to think PHEVs were possibly the worst of both worlds, but the X1 has made me flip that to thinking it's possibly the best of both worlds, for the right person.

[Gaffer_H]

Originally Posted by MontyB1

Yeah I don’t mind it either, it’s plenty punchy enough for our congested roads and most situations, the electric motor helps with the early punch a pure ICE car just can’t react that fast.

I find mid range torque is very good too.

[Vervain]

Thinking of getting a 30e…I’ve seen everyone speaking about range drop for cold months, but what about hot months or places that are generally hot (as in 30+ degrees Celsius most of the time)? Would the battery range be more detrimentally affected than by extreme cold?
Any real-world info here from anyone would be appreciated.

Thanks! 😊

[Tunners]

Generally the warm weather is beneficial to range as the ambient temperature of the battery stays higher so it doesn’t need to warm the battery as much. During winter I get 1.5- 1.9 miles per kwh during summer the range increases to 3.5-4.0 per kwh. These figures are based on generally short trips.

[Fish Fingers]

Originally Posted by Vervain

Thinking of getting a 30e…I’ve seen everyone speaking about range drop for cold months, but what about hot months or places that are generally hot (as in 30+ degrees Celsius most of the time)? Would the battery range be more detrimentally affected than by extreme cold?
Any real-world info here from anyone would be appreciated.

Thanks! 😊

Its a pity I can't upload pics as I've got a generic EV graphic for that.

It basically peaks at about 20-25c then starts to fall either side about the same.

30c is similar to 15c (5% lower than peak).
40c is about the same as 0c (about 30% lower than peak).

[Vervain]

Originally Posted by Fish Fingers

Its a pity I can't upload pics as I've got a generic EV graphic for that.

It basically peaks at about 20-25c then starts to fall either side about the same.

30c is similar to 15c (5% lower than peak).
40c is about the same as 0c (about 30% lower than peak).

Thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for. That’s not too bad then. I can live with this.
Right now in the middle of Winter here and air temperatures are around 17-20 degreesC with full sun, and I have solar to charge the battery at home. This vehicle will be perfect. 👌

I’ve also considered full EV, especially the EX30 which is significantly cheaper than the X1 PHEV and iX1 here, but not sure if I want to go full EV, even though I’m mostly in the city…

[Pganders]

Originally Posted by Vervain

Thinking of getting a 30e…I’ve seen everyone speaking about range drop for cold months, but what about hot months or places that are generally hot (as in 30+ degrees Celsius most of the time)? Would the battery range be more detrimentally affected than by extreme cold?
Any real-world info here from anyone would be appreciated.

Thanks! 😊

My experience so far with the 30e is very positive. It really provides the best of both worlds combining excellent economy yet at the same time providing very brisk and smooth acceleration when needed.

Running costs for PHEVs can be difficult to assess as generally you will get seperate mpg and m/kwh figures from the manufacturers app when really you need a combined cost/mile. As a result I have kept my own real-world figures. Over 4300 miles/12 months of mixed driving, including several long journeys of 100-200 miles, I have used:

Electric - 1435 kwh
Petrol - 63.5 litres

I’ll let you work out the actual cost based in your own electric/petrol costs as mine may differ.

The key to maximising economy is home charging on a cheap tariff. On occasions where this is not possible a recent return journey of mine on a fully depleted battery resulted in a figure of 46.2mpg over 110 miles. Despite the fully depleted battery the car’s electronics will still maintain a reserve in the battery to provide a boost for any fast overtaking if required. (I never charge away from home due to cost/charge time).

Colder temperatures will hit efficiency and during winter months battery capacity fell from approx 54 miles to 42 miles at 100% charge.

In conclusion whether a PHEV is right for you is down to the type of journeys you do and ability to charge at home on a cheap tariff.

[Fish Fingers]

Originally Posted by Vervain

Thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for. That’s not too bad then. I can live with this.
Right now in the middle of Winter here and air temperatures are around 17-20 degreesC with full sun, and I have solar to charge the battery at home. This vehicle will be perfect. 👌

I’ve also considered full EV, especially the EX30 which is significantly cheaper than the X1 PHEV and iX1 here, but not sure if I want to go full EV, even though I’m mostly in the city…

I have found the same graph I was referring to in this article (chart 1):

https://www.geotab.com/uk/blog/ev-range/

Should be useful to you.

[Vervain]

Originally Posted by Pganders

My experience so far with the 30e is very positive. It really provides the best of both worlds combining excellent economy yet at the same time providing very brisk and smooth acceleration when needed.

Running costs for PHEVs can be difficult to assess as generally you will get seperate mpg and m/kwh figures from the manufacturers app when really you need a combined cost/mile. As a result I have kept my own real-world figures. Over 4300 miles/12 months of mixed driving, including several long journeys of 100-200 miles, I have used:

Electric - 1435 kwh
Petrol - 63.5 litres

I’ll let you work out the actual cost based in your own electric/petrol costs as mine may differ.

The key to maximising economy is home charging on a cheap tariff. On occasions where this is not possible a recent return journey of mine on a fully depleted battery resulted in a figure of 46.2mpg over 110 miles. Despite the fully depleted battery the car’s electronics will still maintain a reserve in the battery to provide a boost for any fast overtaking if required. (I never charge away from home due to cost/charge time).

Colder temperatures will hit efficiency and during winter months battery capacity fell from approx 54 miles to 42 miles at 100% charge.

In conclusion whether a PHEV is right for you is down to the type of journeys you do and ability to charge at home on a cheap tariff.

Thanks, I used your figures to work out what the price would be here, and that’s seriously impressive!

What’s surprising to me is the figure of 46mpg with a fully depleted battery. This is also something I wondered, and happy that you confirmed the efficiency of the car even in this situation.

Thanks for your insights here. Really appreciate it.

[MontyB1]

It's perfect as a PHEV if your normal daily usage is 40miles or less and you do only a few long distance journeys. In that you can get 400-500mpg easily we have found for our 25e.

Going further you then have the battery to haul around and a small ish engine but it still does a good job. Its not as nice to drive when its not EV, its more jerky and you do miss the slick pickup of the EV element, its not a show stopper but it is noticeable when its at absolute 0%.

My wife as an example has done about 2000miles over the last 3 to 4 months and only put one full tank in and still has 63% of the fuel left, also last month as a real time example was 417mpg, so she used 96% EV usage and we like others just leave the car in full auto and let the car decided how it should be used.

[Hartside]

Stupid question, but when you say full auto, I’m guessing you mean the default start up mode?

[MontyB1]

Originally Posted by Hartside

Stupid question, but when you say full auto, I’m guessing you mean the default start up mode?

Yes just left in personal and leave the car to decide what it wants to do. She isnt' a foot flat to the floor driver so even though her journey is quite stop start and roundabouts on a 60mph for a good chunk her journey and motorway, the car is still predominately EV and only kicks in when she really needs the power.

Less efficient in winter than summer but then she can pre-warm it and defrost it even when it's on the drive so she doesn't care about that.

[Fish Fingers]

Originally Posted by Hartside

Stupid question, but when you say full auto, I’m guessing you mean the default start up mode?

Yep - no need to overthink it.
If you are pottering locally all day just drive it (electric).
If you end up doing a bit more mileage one day- use satnav or switch to maintain battery.
On long journeys, use maintain battery until near home, or use satnav.

Interesting how popular PHEVs are becoming.
I was on BMW site looking for a nearly new i4 M50 (my next car?)
Page after page of them. Heavily discounted.

Looked for U11 hybrid and only a handful. And only two 30e cars.
When we got ours there were about a dozen.

[Pganders]

Originally Posted by Vervain

Thanks, I used your figures to work out what the price would be here, and that’s seriously impressive!

What’s surprising to me is the figure of 46mpg with a fully depleted battery. This is also something I wondered, and happy that you confirmed the efficiency of the car even in this situation.

Thanks for your insights here. Really appreciate it.

Should have included that the 110 mile journey (actually 111 according to the App) was mainly motorway at 70mph, apart from slow sections at start and finish, with the App recording average speed at 55.9 mph for the journey.

As Monty B1 says this car is at its best if you can do most journeys within 40 miles between charges. Though perfectly capable for extended journeys when required without any worries over range anxiety.

[Hartside]

Had a notification from Octopus just before to say they could not connect to the car. Took me some time to realise the car had changed the charging protocol from immmediate to a set time. I definitely didn’t change it, maybe a glitch? I changed back and it is busy charging now in an Octopus charging time slot, weird!

[Fish Fingers]

Originally Posted by Hartside

Had a notification from Octopus just before to say they could not connect to the car. Took me some time to realise the car had changed the charging protocol from immmediate to a set time. I definitely didn’t change it, maybe a glitch? I changed back and it is busy charging now in an Octopus charging time slot, weird!

Have you got the Octopus app?
It should be at the bottom under 'devices'.

You should be able to set the charge limit (100%) and ready time (05.30) on the app and just let it do its thing while you sleep.

When you plug it in each time, it will charge for a very short time and then work out a charging plan for that night only (often in a few half hour chunks) and that will usually override any timers etc you have set yourself for the car.

You will then see those timers set on the app.

This happens each time you plug the charger in.

If you need to charge immediately, you use the 'Bump charge' on the app (although this doesn't work on my Taycan).

[Hartside]

Yes, it’s set up correctly in the Octopus app, it’s the car or BMW app that’s changing it from Immediate to a set time. It did it again for the second time tonight and Octopus stopped charging because of it.

This is the message that shows in the BMW app

[Vervain]

Originally Posted by MontyB1

It's perfect as a PHEV if your normal daily usage is 40miles or less and you do only a few long distance journeys. In that you can get 400-500mpg easily we have found for our 25e.

Going further you then have the battery to haul around and a small ish engine but it still does a good job. Its not as nice to drive when its not EV, its more jerky and you do miss the slick pickup of the EV element, its not a show stopper but it is noticeable when its at absolute 0%.

My wife as an example has done about 2000miles over the last 3 to 4 months and only put one full tank in and still has 63% of the fuel left, also last month as a real time example was 417mpg, so she used 96% EV usage and we like others just leave the car in full auto and let the car decided how it should be used.

I think my use cases do align with this, so strongly leaning toward it now.

The real-world efficiency of this combination is just mind-boggling! Great to see those figures can be achieved in ‘auto’ driving.

My last concern is the element of the engine cutting in when more power is needed - Say you drive in full EV mode for most of the time and the engine hasn’t been used in many days. Plus it’s cold outside. So if you suddenly step on the accelerator and the full power is needed, will a cold engine be turning at max rpm at that point? Or is there some preconditioning of the engine always to ensure that it can perform optimally, even in the cold of winter, for example?

[Vervain]

Originally Posted by Fish Fingers

Yep - no need to overthink it.
If you are pottering locally all day just drive it (electric).
If you end up doing a bit more mileage one day- use satnav or switch to maintain battery.
On long journeys, use maintain battery until near home, or use satnav.

Interesting how popular PHEVs are becoming.
I was on BMW site looking for a nearly new i4 M50 (my next car?)
Page after page of them. Heavily discounted.

Looked for U11 hybrid and only a handful. And only two 30e cars.
When we got ours there were about a dozen.

Does selecting ‘maintain battery’ mean it won’t use battery at all to supplement the engine when more power is needed? What does this mean exactly?
Apologies for all the questions.

[Fish Fingers]

Originally Posted by Vervain

Does selecting ‘maintain battery’ mean it won’t use battery at all to supplement the engine when more power is needed? What does this mean exactly?
Apologies for all the questions.

'maintain battery' is an option you can switch on and off.
In this mode it will switch to using the engine - but always maintain enough battery charge to use the electric motor when needed (overtaking etc) even when it shows the battery at zero.

Essentially if you are driving on a long journey at say 20% charge, if you switch this on, it will stay at about 20% as it switches to ICE.
But the battery is still there in the background when needed and will cut in automatically to help with acceleration or AWD if required.

[Fish Fingers]

Originally Posted by Vervain

My last concern is the element of the engine cutting in when more power is needed - Say you drive in full EV mode for most of the time and the engine hasn’t been used in many days. Plus it’s cold outside. So if you suddenly step on the accelerator and the full power is needed, will a cold engine be turning at max rpm at that point? Or is there some preconditioning of the engine always to ensure that it can perform optimally, even in the cold of winter, for example?

AFAIK.
Sport Mode uses ice and electric together, so assuming not in Sport.....

You have to think that BMW will have thought about it and will limit power to some extent.
It would only likely happen if you stamped on the accelerator (think about red lining an Ice car) as electric power alone is very quick.

Its my wife's car and she just drives it.

If it was mine, I would be mechanically sympathetic and likely start in Sport for a while if it was very cold, just to make sure the engine warms up.
On the other hand she mostly drives locally at modest speed and would be highly unlikely to need high levels of power (again, think of times when you would actually red line an ICE car).

[Pganders]

Originally Posted by Vervain

My last concern is the element of the engine cutting in when more power is needed - Say you drive in full EV mode for most of the time and the engine hasn’t been used in many days. Plus it’s cold outside. So if you suddenly step on the accelerator and the full power is needed, will a cold engine be turning at max rpm at that point? Or is there some preconditioning of the engine always to ensure that it can perform optimally, even in the cold of winter, for example?

I’ve never really thought about that but good point. I always just drive in the “auto” default mode and let the car decide. I have found that in cold weather, even with a fully charged battery, the engine will cut in randomly so maybe the car electronics are doing some sort of preconditioning in cold weather to protect the engine?