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About the secrets of i4's driving range ...

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#1 · (Edited)
We all know by now that the i4 eDrive40 will give you up to 590 km's of range. If you are lucky.
And we also know that the die hard race drivers aiming for an M50 will have to settle for only 510 km's.

But how realistic is it really?

What happens if you don't like driving around like your grandma, but feel like you can improve on Max Verstappen's driving style any time? Or what will happen if you have to deal with the icy winters of Canada or Norway? Or if you are one of the lucky guys living in Greece and driving around with the A/C on full power 9 out of 10 days?

Actually BMW is lying to us all. The i4's maximum range is nowhere near 590 km's.
What if I told you it is more?

On a fully charged battery the i4 may actually take you as far as 655 km's. And whatever you do to it, it will never do any worse than 300 km's until it drops dead.

1313


All range numbers in kilometers, all temperatures in degrees Celsius.
 
#2 · (Edited)
The official driving range of the eDrive40 is 590 km's. BMW actually tells us that you will reach such a range with an "efficient to moderate" driving style, at 10 degrees Celsius. As batteries will be more effective at higher temperatures there seems to be room for improvement. And an "efficient to moderate driving style" still doesn't sound like my grandma.

The M50 is a different story. Yes, it will do the promised 510 km's. But for that you will need an efficient driving style, nothing moderate about that. And you need a nice temperature of 20 degrees. So there seems to be less opportunity to improve on BMW's lies about the M50, right?

1315


From this we can also conclude that the eDrive40 is a much faster car than the M50. In order to realise the promised range the eDrive40 can be driven at efficient to moderate speed whereas the M50 driver will have to bite his or her tongue and stay in efficient mode all the time.
If he or she does not obey the eDrive40 will for sure overtake the moment the M50 is parked at yet another charging station.
 
#3 ·
I worry about the battery's performance in winter conditions. Over here we have known extremities up to minus 10 degrees Celsius. On this site we have been receiving information from expert Canadians who expect range to drop with 50% during winter time. Will it actually be that bad?

Well this is what BMW has to say about it:

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Both the eDrive40 and the M50 perform less at lower temperatures. But it is not as bad as we were expecting...

The eDrive40 loses 40 km's of range when temperature drops from plus 35 to minus 10 degrees. A loss of 7,1%. Not bad!

The M50 performs similarly. A decrease in range of 35 km's or 6,9%.
Both were measured at moderate driving speeds with the A/C turned off.
 
#4 · (Edited)
So now, let's make it really interesting.

We already learned that we should not worry too much about lower temperatures. But what about energy consuming accessories like heating, lights, media, kids in the back charging ipads etcetera. For now let's take the airconditioning as an example. Let's turn it on or off.

What would that do with the graph that we looked at earlier. Well, it would do this ....

1317


This is scary! What do we see?
  1. At an average temperature of 15 degrees, the eDrive40's range drops with 25 km's. Not too bad. Exactly the same decrease in range for the M50. At this temperature the A/C does not need to work very hard, so there is limited impact on the range.
  2. As expected there is more impact at higher temperatures. At 35 degrees the eDrive40 loses 100 km's of range, and the M50 loses 80 km's. So do not touch that A/C button unless you really need to. I guess this is the reason the climate menu is well hidden somewhere in those menus.
  3. More surprisingly there is an equally big drop in range when using the airco in cold circumstances. A drop of 105 km's for the eDrive40 and 85 km's for the M50, both at minus 10 degrees. So my advise, do not use the airco at lower temperatures but ventilate.
  4. Last but not least, we learn that the M50's range is less impacted by airco use than the eDrive40's. Any ideas what could cause this?
My advise: take the optional sunroof and use the A/C when absolutely needed only.
 
#40 ·
Hans said:
My advise: take the optional sunroof and use the A/C when absolutely needed only.
Click to expand...
Just one thing regarding AC in the summer - remember that every heatpump consumes most power while cooling to a set temperature but then much much less when keeping it cool ;) so it should not be that dramatic (also remember from physics that in winter it is worst because battery performs worse when it is cold ;) and some capacity is “hidden” and reveals itself while driving and warming up
 
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#5 · (Edited)
And now about the monkey behind the wheel.
And his driving style ....

It pays to drive smoothly and efficiently at low to moderate speeds. A lot!

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When maintaining an efficient driving style both the eDrive40 and M50 can do much better than the official estimates. Especially at higher temperature a plus of 65 and 70 km's respectively.

Notice that speeding up to a moderate driving style does not impact the range too much. The eDrive40 will fall only 35 km's below it's estimated range at 20 degrees, The M50 will do only 15 kilometers less. Very good.

It starts to really go wrong the moment we let our sporty ambitions loose. See the yellow and light blue lines that are really much lower in the range graph. No problem if you know you will be able to charge in time. But please notice that with a sporty driving style the M50 will lose only 145 km's compared to it's official estimate (at 20 degrees) versus a massive loss of 185 km's for the eDrive40. And while driving sporty the range of the eDrive40 is only 40 to 45 km's better than the M50's, a much smaller gap than at efficient or moderate speeds. So this is where we see the true nature of the M-version. It is very efficient at driving really fast :D
 
#8 ·
DannoBills said:
I am confused. Here is Canada, they are advertising 475kms tops for the i4. You telling me we may get more range??? If so, sweet!!!
PS. Talking to other EV owners, range can drop by about 30% range in very cold weather (-30 degree celcius).
Click to expand...
Danno, it will be interesting to see how these numbers will prove to be realistic in real life.
I am not sure about the supposed range of 475 km's for Canadian i4's. Where did you get that information?

PS. BMW does not give any estimates at minus 30 degrees. But if minus 10 results in a loss of 7%, 30% loss at minus 30 degrees seems to be in line.
 
#14 · (Edited)
One more analysis to wrap it up:

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This graph shows range at 25 degrees at different driving styles and A/C turned on or off. Noticable is that:
  • An M50 with airco turned off has a better range than an eDrive40 with airco turned on.
  • Leaving the airco turned off has a much bigger impact when driving more economically.
  • Driving an eDrive40 economically brings you almost twice as far as an M50 being driven as it should ;)
And finally:
  • eDrive40, airco off, range loss sporty drive versus economic drive, minus 37,7%
  • eDrive40, airco on, range loss sporty drive versus economic drive, minus 31,5%
  • eDrive40, range loss sporty / airco on versus economic / airco off, minus 43,1%
  • M50, airco off, range loss sporty drive versus economic drive, minus 36,5%
  • M50, airco on, range loss sporty drive versus economic drive, minus 30,6%
  • M50, range loss sporty / airco on versus economic / airco off, minus 40,9%
So it really pays off to be very careful with the gas pedal (sorry). Just perhaps you should only use the sporty qualities of your i4 when there is a Model 3 next to you at the trafic light. Have fun!

Looking forward to testing and validating all this for real.
 
#87 ·
Hans said:
  • An M50 with airco turned off has a better range than an eDrive40 with airco turned on.
  • Leaving the airco turned off has a much bigger impact when driving more economically.
  • Driving an eDrive40 economically brings you almost twice as far as an M50 being driven as it should ;)
And finally:
  • eDrive40, airco off, range loss sporty drive versus economic drive, minus 37,7%
  • eDrive40, airco on, range loss sporty drive versus economic drive, minus 31,5%
  • eDrive40, range loss sporty / airco on versus economic / airco off, minus 43,1%
  • M50, airco off, range loss sporty drive versus economic drive, minus 36,5%
  • M50, airco on, range loss sporty drive versus economic drive, minus 30,6%
  • M50, range loss sporty / airco on versus economic / airco off, minus 40,9%
So it really pays off to be very careful with the gas pedal (sorry). Just perhaps you should only use the sporty qualities of your i4 when there is a Model 3 next to you at the trafic light. Have fun!

Looking forward to testing and validating all this for real.
Click to expand...
So it seems evident that turning the A/C off can greatly improve range. In our moderate climate I already made it a habit to turn on the airco only when really needed (extreme temperatures or condensation). So the next question is: HOW TO TURN OFF A/C IN AN I4?

There seems to be no dedicated setting in the climate menu that does this simple trick. Not in auto mode nor in manual mode. Of course selecting “eco pro” will limit the use of A/C, but I am prepared to turn it off in all drive modes.

Anyone who sees a solution?
 
#15 ·
Great thread Hans!

To tell you the truth I'm more concerned about the Mediterranean summers where the temperature this year hit 45°C.
In these diagrams they don't distinguish between A/C Heat vs Cold.
I think room A/C use more power for cooling (obviously it depends the actual conditions) so probably is the same for this case.
In a hot summer the range will drop dramatically.
 
R
#17 · (Edited)
Having driven a Model 3 Performance for 20 months, through two winters in the UK, my estimate for range loss when the temp drops below about 5 degrees C is 25-30% (the BMW battery pack looks to be prone to range loss at lower temperatures). I drive the car as I want to i.e. not particularly economically, unless I'm on a long journey when I'm more careful. I usually hover around 240-250 miles for a full battery, which, although I'd like it to me more, has never caused any issues on a trip. Just plan your stops around your own comfort limits. At my age it's more about miles per bladder...
 
P
#20 · (Edited)
Our summers in Toronto can be brutally hot and winters very, very cold. In fact, I've often told non-Canadians that Toronto has two seasons - summer and winter. So I'll be very interested in seeing what the real life performance of the i4 will be like in this kind of environment.

P.S. Have there been any announcements or hints as to when we will see the EDrive 35?
 
#21 ·
Paul said:
Our summers in Toronto can be brutally hot and winters very, very cold. In fact, I've often told non-Canadians that Toronto has two season - summer and winter. So I'll be very interested in seeing what the real life performance of the i4 will be like in this kind of environment.

P.S. Have there been any announcements or hints as to when we will see the EDrive 35?
Click to expand...
Hi Paul, There will get a live streaming on Sept. 02, 5PM eastern time, You can go on BMW.ca to reserve your place and get by mail the link.
 
#25 ·
Hi Hans, interesting find. What matters the most I think is -10 & airco on & athletic drive, just to simulate worst possible (European) conditions. M50 still shows 300km range then, which is pretty amazing. To give you an idea, wifey and I drove the iX3 Amsterdam --> Zurich --> Amsterdam, which includes mountains, hills, etc and we did it in 3 stops one way and 2 stops only back. We did take our time at the fast chargers but the car charged really fast even to 100% (~50min). Per leg we did something like 300km each time, sometimes less, sometimes more. We were arriving <10% to Ionity and I always yo-yo'd it the last 10 km (watch Tesla Bjorn for the yoyo explanation), this is to warm up the battery. So if iX3 did 300km in the summer, surely the i4 (M50) will do 300km in the winter! (much more aerodynamic car).

  • i4 charges faster than iX3 (210kw peak vs 154kw)
  • i4 has 18" (or 19") rims mostly vs 20" on my iX3
  • I removed rear spoiler option on the i4 M50 build for extra range.

You never need more than ~300km when really pushing it on autobahn, because you get tired and you do need a toilet break at some point (+ stau & roadworks kills you).
 
#30 ·
When I drive in the winter, it’s usually through snow, it’s cold between -10 and -30 and heat is needed for the windshield or it gets all fogged up. I would not advice driving without heat in cold weather.

You are not moving either when driving so if it’s not warm enough in the cabin, the extremities get cold. And it not very fun to drive when it’s 10 C in the cabin.

Your statistics are interesting. I think 30% is more realistic than my 50% worst case and it’s a good number to use if you stay in the city.

If you are going to do a long winter trip, you don’t want to be stuck in a desolate road overnight when it gets very cold.
 
#49 ·
Great displaying of the BMW information. Thank you!

Just thinking on the i4 M50’s apparent sporty driving efficiency advantage over the standard i4 40. I think this is likely due to enhanced brake energy regeneration with the extra front motor.

Sporty refers to ‘spirited’ and higher speed driving by my understanding. So, as the M50 has a higher speed I expect a higher final drive ratio. Though, assuming this is correct, I have no idea how this would relate to highway speed efficiency…
 
#51 ·
My thoughts based on my experience with the volt:
  • my commute is 70km and the volt can go maybe 70 to 75 before using gas 9 months a year driving gently
  • because of that, I would drive gently use little a/c and little heat
  • driving like that is not fun. It removes the pleasure of driving.

For city driving, going to work, running errants:
  • charge the bmw to 80%
  • enjoy a/c, heating, fast acceleration when needed, driving a bit faster than the speed limit.
  • what if I start with about 400km and drive 100km that day, sporty, who cares? Enjoy the drive

For long road trip:
  • charge to 100%
  • the L3 stations won’t be at exactly 500km. It might be 300km or 350km or 400km
  • whether the car can do 500km or 450km or 550km at highway speed doesn’t matter, the trip will be planned accordingly.
  • on a 1000km trip, there will be two stops anyways, and the destination will need to have L2 charger.
  • enjoy the drive

Just my opinion, your milage may vary (hehe)
 
P
#52 ·
ShutterHappy said:
...

For city driving, going to work, running errants:
  • charge the bmw to 80%
  • enjoy a/c, heating, fast acceleration when needed, driving a bit faster than the speed limit.
  • what if I start with about 400km and drive 100km that day, sporty, who cares? Enjoy the drive
...
Click to expand...
If i4 would use the same battery management as i3, then 100% just means 100% user accessible capacity, not 100% battery capacity (which is what Tesla uses). Just plug in and charge it to "full", the car will take care of the rest.
 
#53 ·
So much talk about this, but when I was driving my X1 2018, 120d, driving style accounts for just the same difference - we just don't notice because we don't care in an ICE.

I did a Belgium to Slovenia trip (~1200km) without caring for consumption -> 850km.
On the way back I drove conserving energy (but never lower than 110km/h) and got.... 1300km. I did this because after the X1 I've been driving a Hyundai Kona EV - needed practice.

Biggest influence on the range in an EV after 2y experience?

1) Speed. BIG difference between 90, 110, 120.
2) Weather - cold batteries kill the range. Keep that car warm (preheating while charging)

The occasional sprint didn't matter much.

I did order the M50 and am confident I'll keep the consumption pretty low just by driving style. And yeah... it charges 100km in 10 minutes so a stop doesn't matter that much anymore (in the KONA I can only charge 200km range in about 35 to 40 minutes)

Long roadtrip? Take it easy, stop every 2h/200km, have a drink and come back after 10-15 mins charging and have more than enough range to do another 2h. At noon you'll eat and take 30 mins and charge up to 80% for a lot of range.
 
#55 ·
@Hans and @DannoBills , the difference between ranges as advertised in Europe and US/Canada are due to the testing dictated by the regulatory agencies. Here is the best introduction I found: Electric Vehicle Range Testing: Understanding NEDC vs. WLTP vs. EPA.
So the WLTP tests lasts 30 minutes while the EPA test requires 2 recharge cycles and one run until battery is empty, and WLTP is mixed what we Americans call surface streets and highways, while EPA focuses more on highways. Your own style depends on where you live, of course.
I did notice comparing the WLTP and EPA ranges for a variety of cars that German cars tend to have the biggest difference between the two, while Tesla has the least, and Japanese cars are somewhere in between.
Another thread of this forum has a data compilation of @Mycroft that includes range vs speed (average with stops and top) and overland (I think it means surface streets) vs highways (from the looks of the chart, at much higher speeds than are permitted in US and Canada) by temperature.
This being said, great analyses from @Hans , thank you so much! Very interesting charts, which showcases the complexity of estimating the range.
 
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