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Chargers in iDrive 8 Navigation

12231 Views 41 Replies 14 Participants Last post by CRowlader, Apr 15, 2022

nicoouf

Discussion Starter · Jan 13, 2022

Hi all,

Went to my dealer last week for service and had a look around the iX they had there. Interior is amazing, and the 2 LCD screens are huge and super crisp. It even looks a bit like they're too big for the amount of content they display, but oh well, better to have a larger than a smaller screen...
Anyway, I tried to plot a long route (Sydney to Melboune, about 900 km) in the navigation system, to check how iDrive would manage and display the charge stops needed (I was expecting something similar to the trip planner found in a Tesla or ABRP) but I was surprised that no chargers at all were displayed along the route (and the iX cannot drive 900 km without recharging)... So I don't know if it's because iDrive is not updated for Australia yet (which is surprising because the iX and iX3 are both on sale here already), or if it's just doesn't show them at all?
I don't plan on using iDrive for nav anyway as I find Waze and Apple Maps (now with the enhanced maps in Australia) much better and would probably plot the route with ABRP and use it instead, but I find it weird that nothing shows up...
Have you guys experienced a similar issue? I believe the maps in Europe take the charging stops into account, but I'm not sure if it's the case elsewhere?

Reactions: 1

21 - 40 of 42 Posts

linerjoe

· #21 · Jan 13, 2022

I can tell you that in the US, with a Tesla, I still use ABRP to plan out longer trips. I have found that Tesla's built in Nav is actually pretty solid, but it doesn't take into account the whole trip (or didn't... waypoints were just added, haven't tried now). With ABRP, I would usually plan out the whole trip, and then in the car, just select the next supercharger, so that the car would pre-condition (and yes, even driving for multiple hours straight, the car would still pre-condition... BMW may be different). That worked well for me, and I've gradually started trusting the built-in Nav more and more.

It will take time to trust the car.

Reactions: 1

Starlight

· #22 · Jan 13, 2022

linerjoe said:
I can tell you that in the US, with a Tesla, I still use ABRP to plan out longer trips. I have found that Tesla's built in Nav is actually pretty solid, but it doesn't take into account the whole trip (or didn't... waypoints were just added, haven't tried now). With ABRP, I would usually plan out the whole trip, and then in the car, just select the next supercharger, so that the car would pre-condition (and yes, even driving for multiple hours straight, the car would still pre-condition... BMW may be different). That worked well for me, and I've gradually started trusting the built-in Nav more and more.

It will take time to trust the car.

I have tested the ABRP with the alpha i4 configuration, it usually wants me to charge for 10 after driving for 45 minutes on a long trip I usually go on.
That is instead of driving to the fastcharger on a distance that should be well inside the estimated range, even on winter.

MinhSATx

· #23 · Jan 13, 2022

linerjoe said:
I can tell you that in the US, with a Tesla, I still use ABRP to plan out longer trips. I have found that Tesla's built in Nav is actually pretty solid, but it doesn't take into account the whole trip (or didn't... waypoints were just added, haven't tried now). With ABRP, I would usually plan out the whole trip, and then in the car, just select the next supercharger, so that the car would pre-condition (and yes, even driving for multiple hours straight, the car would still pre-condition... BMW may be different). That worked well for me, and I've gradually started trusting the built-in Nav more and more.

It will take time to trust the car.

@linerjoe, when you drive to a supercharger, does the car nav know it's a charger, or do you have to set something so that it knows you want to charge there?

linerjoe

· #24 · Jan 13, 2022

MinhSATx said:
@linerjoe, when you drive to a supercharger, does the car nav know it's a charger, or do you have to set something so that it knows you want to charge there?

You have to search for it by name in the Nav, so it knows it's a supercharger, then it will recognize it. (Or you can just show the superchargers on the screen and pick one.) If you enter the address, it won't recognize it and pre-condition.

Also, ABRP by default will try to shorten your charging time, which typically means stopping more often, for shorter charges (when the battery can accept higher charging rates).

Reactions: 1

Marvellous

· #25 · Jan 13, 2022 (Edited)

The i4 is the first car with high integrated Carplay and Apple Maps with EV routing shown in the video.
It includes state of charge (from the car), weather and so on. BMW and Ford are the first ones to include this feature.

Instruction to link your car

Set up electric vehicle routing in Maps on iPhone

On iPhone, Maps can help you plan trips that include stops for charging your electric vehicle.

support.apple.com

When you get driving directions, Maps can track your vehicle’s charge. By analyzing elevation changes along the route and other factors, Maps identifies appropriate charging stations along the way. If you drive until your charge gets too low, you’re offered a route to the nearest compatible charging station.
Note: Electric vehicle routing requires a compatible vehicle. Refer to the owner’s guide for your vehicle for compatibility information.

Users with electric cars could use Apple Maps to plot a route and the system would add necessary charging stations to that path. It sounds great. Sadly it doesn’t seem to actually work on any vehicles currently on the road. Apple says it works with BMW and Ford for the feature. BMW told Car and Driver that it will be available with the upcoming 2022 i4 (out sometime next year), and Ford said the feature would work with the upcoming 2021 Mustang Mach-E, which is set to go on sale by the end of 2020.

Reactions: 2

MinhSATx

· #26 · Jan 13, 2022

Marvellous said:
The i4 is the first car with high integrated Carplay and Apple Maps with EV routing shown in the video.
It includes state of charge (from the car), weather and so on. BMW and Ford are the first ones to include this feature.

Instruction to link your car

Set up electric vehicle routing in Maps on iPhone

On iPhone, Maps can help you plan trips that include stops for charging your electric vehicle.

support.apple.com

This is great, @Marvellous, thank you for sharing - this might even motivate me to buy an iPhone (not!)... However, do you know:

Does the phone actually connect to the car somehow to get the info, or is Apple just maintaining a database that reflects the car consumption, and calculates the consumption based on the car characteristics, the itinerary, weather etc...?
If it does connect, can Waze and/or ABRP use the Apple API to access the same information, or do we HAVE to use Apple Maps?

nicoouf

Discussion Starter · #27 · Jan 14, 2022

Marvellous said:
The i4 is the first car with high integrated Carplay and Apple Maps with EV routing shown in the video.
It includes state of charge (from the car), weather and so on. BMW and Ford are the first ones to include this feature.

Instruction to link your car

Set up electric vehicle routing in Maps on iPhone

On iPhone, Maps can help you plan trips that include stops for charging your electric vehicle.

support.apple.com

This is amazing news indeed! Thanks for sharing! I hope this API can be used by other apps (looking at you ABRP and Waze 😁) so that we can dismiss the OBD shenanigans and have a neater solution. If not, I’m happy with Apple Maps (they improved so much since they released it - if you have an iPhone, give it another chance)

Reactions: 1

nicoouf

Discussion Starter · #28 · Jan 19, 2022

He confirmed at the 19:05 mark that the i4 didn’t have the chargers in the navigation… Hopefully there will be a map update to fix this…

Reactions: 1

Lord

· #29 · Jan 19, 2022

nicoouf said:
He confirmed at the 19:05 mark that the i4 didn’t have the chargers in the navigation… Hopefully there will be a map update to fix this…

Thanks! I stopped the video 20 seconds earlier.

Starlight

· #30 · Jan 19, 2022

nicoouf said:
He confirmed at the 19:05 mark that the i4 didn’t have the chargers in the navigation… Hopefully there will be a map update to fix this…

It's supposed to have pre-conditioning of the battery based on charge destinations, so that will come sooner or later if it's not already there.

Lord

· #31 · Jan 19, 2022

Here it says:

Using the BMW navigation system and BMW Connected app, users can easily plan their route to take advantage of these ultra-fast charging stations and find the best itinerary for an efficient trip.

www.bmw.co.uk

Charging | Electromobility | BMW UK

Charging options for plug-in hybrids or electric cars and important information for private and public charging as well as cable types.

www.bmw.co.uk

MinhSATx

· #32 · Jan 19, 2022

nicoouf said:
He confirmed at the 19:05 mark that the i4 didn’t have the chargers in the navigation… Hopefully there will be a map update to fix this…

There is another thread where a member of the forum showed that the BMW is a bit less than intuitive, it adds the chargers only after you confirm your route, so it makes you think it does not have the chargers. See:

www.i4talk.com

Chargers in iDrive 8 Navigation

Hi all, Went to my dealer last week for service and had a look around the iX they had there. Interior is amazing, and the 2 LCD screens are huge and super crisp. It even looks a bit like they're too big for the amount of content they display, but oh well, better to have a larger than a smaller...

www.i4talk.com

The video posted here shows the demo by BMW. Towards the end it does mention the "charging opportunities" in the "adaptive view".

www.i4talk.com

BMW Maps in iDrive 8

Maps in iDrive 8 Also remote upgrade

www.i4talk.com

i4m50Norway

· #33 · Jan 19, 2022

Hi,
A little bit of experience with the BMW i3 - with iDrive 6.

After entering the target in route, it calculates and finds that you need to charge, ask if you want to include a charge stop, and finds one (of the BMW "approved" charging stations). You answer yes, and the charging stop gets included, and preconditoning is activated. I expect iDrive 8 functionality to be identical - or even better.

However I do not think that I have ever used it. I prefere to decide by myself which charging station I would like to stop at, based on other services available at the charging station (McDonalds etc..) or when I would like to stop. (also considering possibility of having to wait in queue at the charging station)

A big improvement in my opinion would be a simple button, to start precondition 15 - 30 minutes before arriving at the charging station.

Reactions: 3

MinhSATx

· #34 · Jan 19, 2022

i4m50Norway said:
Hi,
A little bit of experience with the BMW i3 - with iDrive 6.

After entering the target in route, it calculates and finds that you need to charge, ask if you want to include a charge stop, and finds one (of the BMW "approved" charging stations). You answer yes, and the charging stop gets included, and preconditoning is activated. I expect iDrive 8 functionality to be identical - or even better.

However I do not think that I have ever used it. I prefere to decide by myself which charging station I would like to stop at, based on other services available at the charging station (McDonalds etc..) or when I would like to stop. (also considering possibility of having to wait in queue at the charging station)

A big improvement in my opinion would be a simple button, to start precondition 15 - 30 minutes before arriving at the charging station.

Another forum member suggested to pre-plan the trip e.g. on ABRP and then select waypoints (now allowed on iDrive8, not sure about the limits) by looking up chargers, apparently this also triggers the pre-conditioning. Testing required, hopefully Kyle Conner will get a demo to do one of his super-long road trips and test it out - or one of the lucky early owners on this forum should.

linerjoe

· #35 · Jan 19, 2022

MinhSATx said:
Another forum member suggested to pre-plan the trip e.g. on ABRP and then select waypoints (now allowed on iDrive8, not sure about the limits) by looking up chargers, apparently this also triggers the pre-conditioning. Testing required, hopefully Kyle Conner will get a demo to do one of his super-long road trips and test it out - or one of the lucky early owners on this forum should.

That's how Tesla does it (if you add a supercharger via name, it will pre-condition). I haven't seen any validation yet whether i4 will do the same (hopefully).

Reactions: 1

Edman

· #36 · Feb 17, 2022

You´ll need to be logged in to your My BMW-account in the car for it to show you the accurate charging stops for your route. And when you do so, the car will pre-condition the battery before charging. If you make a route without being logged in it will show you all charging stops along the route.

Reactions: 1

Ken7

· #37 · Feb 17, 2022

Edman said:
You´ll need to be logged in to your My BMW-account in the car for it to show you the accurate charging stops for your route. And when you do so, the car will pre-condition the battery before charging. If you make a route without being logged in it will show you all charging stops along the route.

I wonder what the logic is to that behavior? What difference would it make in terms of functions whether you're logged into your account or not?

Starlight

· #38 · Feb 17, 2022

Ken7 said:
I wonder what the logic is to that behavior? What difference would it make in terms of functions whether you're logged into your account or not?

Data collection is my guess.

Reactions: 1

Lord

· #39 · Feb 18, 2022

That goes for EVERY "company".
They are only interested for our data. Even more than our money.

Rarely there is an actual functional reason for "registering" and "signing-in".

Reactions: 1

InfertileLemon

· #40 · Mar 21, 2022

This thread made it to the verge!

www.theverge.com

Apple Maps’ EV routing is finally coming to the Ford Mustang Mach-E

More options for finding a charger while you use CarPlay.

www.theverge.com

Now the question is for someone who has the i4 in hand, does this feature work, yes or no? and will be BMW iDrive be updated to support it

21 - 40 of 42 Posts

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