My crazy 670 miles in 24 hours!

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BoMW

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 2, 2014
Messages
265
Location
Sherwood Forest
I did the most craziest thing yesterday, transport myself, a passenger and 45 kilos of luggage to Perth, Scotland in my Rex!
I tried to plan this trip with minimal Rex operation but sadly I didn't quite work out that way. The good news was that Ecotricity are installing one CCS station every week and I benefited from a freshly installed station at Washington services. The bad news is that 70 miles north of Newcastle, as the battery dwindles there's no opportunity of recharging before you reach Edinburgh :(.
My trip started in Nottingham then heading up the A1 to Wetherby services, had to have Rex running for approx 12 miles. At Wetherby a CCS station gave me a 85% charge in 25 mins. I then headed for Morpeth with a planned stop at Northumbrian county council to use their CCS station. Fortunately a quick phone call to Ecotricity revealed a new station at Washington. I filled up with 85% charge and 9 litres of fuel together with 4 litres in a can in the boot. With this capacity I drove up the A1 and managed to crawl into Edinburgh city centre. The plan here was to head for The Exchange, Morrison Street where I was told that there is a Chargenow CCS. Having wasted 20 minutes looking I eventually gave up, couldn't find anything, I now had to quickly look for a petrol station to avoid break down. Once filled I was able to head for Perth without any issues. I arrived at 1530 having departed Nottingham at 0800. Motorway driving was done at 70mph in ECO, reduced limits were at 55mph in ECO PLUS.
Unfortunately my return journey that same evening was more arduous. I failed to charge the car completely on a 13amp socket so had a range of 40 miles. I also added a 12 mile detour from a sat Nav error so I used the Rex all the way to Washington services. This time I really crawled in with 2 mile TOTAL RANGE! I loaded up with 80% charge and petrol and headed for Wetherby services. Charged up again to 80% (about 23 mins), fuelled and carried on for the remaining 90 mins.
I arrived Home at 0620 having departed Perth at 2235. Would I do this again? Doubt it, Perth is an extreme which seemed to have annoyed my passenger! the 90 mins of stoppages were too much but I'm very comfortable driving up to Newcastle which can be reached on battery thanks to ecotricity CCS stations.
I also found out that Leicester Services on the M1 has a newly installed CCS station. It just needs a newly installed station at junction 14-15 then the M1 would nearly be covered.
 
No such dramas such as USA guys reporting with dangerous power loss? What was lowest range left did you dare?
 
With either the BEV or the REx, you won't hit that stone wall unless you get your SOC down low enough. It takes a fairly long grade to get the REx to that point. At the point where his total range was down to 2-miles and out of gas, he could not have driven very fast even if it was flat!

Nobody says you can't take the i3 REx on a longer drive, it's just that most people, having grown up with an ICE, do not like the inconvenience of not being able to just keep going, and the ability to refuel quickly. Even with a CCS, 20-30 minutes is 7-10x longer than it takes to refuel the typical ICE; and, with the ICE, you may not have to stop again for 500-miles...with the BEV, it's likely an hour or so and 80-90 miles (sooner, if the next charging station is too far away), and a bit more with the REx. I've never really been a proponent of carrying a can of gasoline in the vehicle, but at least if you could do it in the FRUNK, you'd probably not get any fumes in the car (not sure where the air intake is, exactly).
 
uktechie said:
No such dramas such as USA guys reporting with dangerous power loss? What was lowest range left did you dare?

In orange color the read out was 7 miles TOTAL.
I Reduced speed to 50 and ECO mode. Last 4 miles I reduced speed to 42 PN the motorway which at 0400 in the morning was not dangerous. Last part showed --- on fuel and 2 miles on battery.
When I filled up it stopped at 8.3 litres so clear 0.7 in reserve still. I was ready to start walking with can in hand!
 
uktechie said:
No such dramas such as USA guys reporting with dangerous power loss? What was lowest range left did you dare?

He kept the speed at 70 mph and 55 mph, so that's why he didn't have any issues with reduced power.

And remember, that's an indicated speed, actual speeds are about 2 mph slower.

In my tests over 2 days of extensive driving, you could drive an actual 70 mph, but even a very slight incline would slow the car down to about 60 mph.

So the 'sweet spot' is probably slightly below 70 mph actual, for long distance cruising.

Oh course, you could accelerate for short bursts… I'm talking about sustained speed. 70 mph actual is pushing it. And I didn't have any passengers or load.
 
jadnashuanh said:
Considering it is designed as a city car...sustained 70mph driving over any distance is not really a realistic design goal, REx or not.
I borrowed a dealer car and maintained 76mph (on cruise control) over about a total of 120 miles (with a fuel stop) without losing any EV range, which maintained 35miles on the display. When I get mine in a few weeks we will be making a regular 260 mile round trip every 4-6 weeks. The trip in the dealer car was to confirm it was possible. Now it will be slightly easier as Ecotricity has put a CCS at Exeter services. Once they are at the other services on the M5 I will be able to do most of that trip for free!
 
pastyboy said:
I borrowed a dealer car and maintained 76mph (on cruise control) over about a total of 120 miles (with a fuel stop) without losing any EV range, which maintained 35miles on the display. When I get mine in a few weeks we will be making a regular 260 mile round trip every 4-6 weeks. The trip in the dealer car was to confirm it was possible. Now it will be slightly easier as Ecotricity has put a CCS at Exeter services. Once they are at the other services on the M5 I will be able to do most of that trip for free!
Agreed, mine can do 75mph on the flat without the battery level depleting so for anyone reading the numerous threads on this subject please be dubious of members without cars/REx telling you how it works.

As for free rapid charging, make the most of it as Ecotricity have said they're introducing fees as from January.
 
Plug said:
pastyboy said:
I borrowed a dealer car and maintained 76mph (on cruise control) over about a total of 120 miles (with a fuel stop) without losing any EV range, which maintained 35miles on the display. When I get mine in a few weeks we will be making a regular 260 mile round trip every 4-6 weeks. The trip in the dealer car was to confirm it was possible. Now it will be slightly easier as Ecotricity has put a CCS at Exeter services. Once they are at the other services on the M5 I will be able to do most of that trip for free!
Agreed, mine can do 75mph on the flat without the battery level depleting so for anyone reading the numerous threads on this subject please be dubious of members without cars/REx telling you how it works.

As for free rapid charging, make the most of it as Ecotricity have said they're introducing fees as from January.

Glad of some actual owner feedback thanks, I have kept record of mileage over last six months and longest day was 240 miles, so I think my REX will cope when it arrives would you agree nothing to worry about?
 
uktechie said:
Glad of some actual owner feedback thanks, I have kept record of mileage over last six months and longest day was 240 miles, so I think my REX will cope when it arrives would you agree nothing to worry about?
Yes, nothing to worry about. So long as you're happy to stick to speeds of under 75mph you can do whatever you want without having to worry about conserving the battery. If you're used to driving much faster than that (not that any of us would admit to that :) ) then it can feel a bit slow at first but you soon get used to it.
 
jadnashuanh said:
Considering it is designed as a city car...sustained 70mph driving over any distance is not really a realistic design goal, REx or not.

Unfortunately that is not what we were told in the USA. Over here some high ranking official of BMW NA made statements (back in April) about how the REx could be used to drive the car across the country if you so desired as it was indeed capable of that task.
This was before all the changes to the REx engage point and the gas tank fiasco were out in the public domain.
 
Plug said:
uktechie said:
Glad of some actual owner feedback thanks, I have kept record of mileage over last six months and longest day was 240 miles, so I think my REX will cope when it arrives would you agree nothing to worry about?
Yes, nothing to worry about. So long as you're happy to stick to speeds of under 75mph you can do whatever you want without having to worry about conserving the battery. If you're used to driving much faster than that (not that any of us would admit to that :) ) then it can feel a bit slow at first but you soon get used to it.

That is fine, I am tracked when working and must stick to speed limits, so should reserve enough for some fun on way home :D
 
FWIW, there are few places in the USA where the legal speed limit exceeds 65, but states are raising theirs above that limit, and that is more common in the west where it is many miles between much of anything except corn fields or something similar. At that speed, the REx can keep up and keep a buffer.

As I said, it all depends on where and how you drive. Stick to legal limits, and your options improve. I realize that can be a pain but if you're not a left lane hog, it often isn't all that big of an impact, if at all.
 
jadnashuanh said:
Considering it is designed as a city car...sustained 70mph driving over any distance is not really a realistic design goal, REx or not.

What are you talking about? Define "any distance." With a design EV range of >75 miles and the expectation that people would charge at home on Level 2 overnight (and possibly also while at work), they OBVIOUSLY expect people to be able to drive 50-75 miles (at least) per day. In the US (and many modern European metropolitan areas), this implies mostly highway miles. 70-75MPH is normal flow of traffic in SF Bay Area, for example....

How many people would buy the car if BMW said "not intended for sustained driving at 70MPH or higher?"
 
BMW had it's electric car experiment running for something like 3-years with people leasing their cars in the USA. Statistics showed the average commute of people that had them was 34-miles/day. The BEV easily can cover that and reach into the upper ends of the bell curve. The REx can easily cover that. Some of those miles might be on the interstates from the suburbs, but if your total daily driving would be nearly the capacity of the car, you bought the wrong car! It really was not designed to refill the gas tank and keep going. It can, but there are potential limitations. What do you expect out of a car designed for getting around and to (from nearby) into the city? The REx can keep up for pretty much any driving you might do in a city environment...expecting it to get you cross-country without compromises is just wrong.
 
I've had my i3 for about three weeks now. I've made three trips on Southern California freeways each of between 80 and 90 miles. My speed varied between 65 mph+ and 70 mph+, mostly closer to and beyond 75 mph on one trip. On two of the trips I used the navigation system, the radio and the air conditioning. Add lights to the third trip which was at night. All three journeys took place in Echo Pro occasionally dipping into Comfort. My battery's range varied from the mid 60s at night to 76 miles today. The battery had a few miles on the charge before I started on my trip today. The REx did just what it was designed to do, namely, make up for the deficit between the battery's capacity and the last few miles I needed to complete my trip. My strongest recommendation is that if your highway commute is about 120 miles roundtrip at sustained speeds in the mid 70s, the i3 with REx is the car for you. There is even more miles in the i3REx if you choose to drive at more moderate speeds, including stop and go travel on packed freeways and city streets.
 
I've found 73mph on the active cruise control gives me a comfortable REx cruise with no battery depletion. I always make sure I have 20% battery for long hills or overtaking manoeuvres though.
 
The active cruise is very well programmed to use coasting as much as possible, and does not change speed aggressively, and that can really help maximize your range capability.
 
I've now had a chance to visit nearly every CCS charger on the motorway with some disappointing results. This week in particular while making a trip to Scotland proved challenging. At Wetherby services I ended up queuing for the first time. Another i3 charging up in one bay and a leaf in the other. The i3 driver insisted on getting 100% charge so my waiting time was increased. At Washington I had no que but 3 times the charging was interupted and for some unknown reason I was unable to stop the charging while at 85%. My ecotricity card had suddenly stopped working, no acknowledgment by the station when I placed the card on the pad. I had no way of stopping the charge and had to wait until full charge before I could remove the plug. My only option was to use my source London card.
I returned via M74 and stopped at Abington, again another i3 in the bay who wanted a 100% charge, i also had only one disconnection. At Killington I had handshake issues. Managed to connect on the fourth attempt but then disconnected twice.
Today was one of the most frustrating days on a journey to Watford. I stopped at Newport Pagnell south where the CCS had only been installed this week. It disconnected only the one time. On my northbound return however, my i3 was not connecting. 12 attempts with various cable positions and plug pressure failed to make it charge. I decided to drive up to Leicester Forest east and check out their CCS. Same problem. No communication between the station and the car. I was and still am thoroughly peeved off. I've spent a small fortune on this car, a so called premium BMW with a £600 CCS option which fails to work.
To rub it in a Nissan leaf parked up by me on 3 separate occasions, it connected to its fast charger and was left to charge. How embarrassing. The Nissan works in seconds and has more fast chargers around the country.
Chargenow, BMW official partner here in the UK has, minimal facilities and charges £7 for 30 mins of CCS charging.
I am now questioning whether the i3 is fit for purpose and is, as was described? I tried to call BMW customer services but of course, the premium car manufacturer was not answering on Saturdays.
 
Plug said:
pastyboy said:
I borrowed a dealer car and maintained 76mph (on cruise control) over about a total of 120 miles (with a fuel stop) without losing any EV range, which maintained 35miles on the display. When I get mine in a few weeks we will be making a regular 260 mile round trip every 4-6 weeks. The trip in the dealer car was to confirm it was possible. Now it will be slightly easier as Ecotricity has put a CCS at Exeter services. Once they are at the other services on the M5 I will be able to do most of that trip for free!
Agreed, mine can do 75mph on the flat without the battery level depleting so for anyone reading the numerous threads on this subject please be dubious of members without cars/REx telling you how it works.

As for free rapid charging, make the most of it as Ecotricity have said they're introducing fees as from January.

Disagree, BMW NA says you can drive the Rex from coast to coast if you feel so inclined.
 
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