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We just got back from a road trip from Toronto to New York and I wanted to share with you my first experience with the X 5 45e on an extended road trip.
Overall, the trip was great and we followed a pattern we have done before, ie. drive to the Village of Tarrytown north of NYC, on the Metro North train line. One day’s drive to Tarrytown with overnight stay, take the train in for two nights in Manhattan, and then back to Tarrytown for some time in Westchester and drive home the following day.
Here’s what I learned about the BMW 45e hybrid.
When we started the drive I chose Hybrid mode used the Battery Control function to keep it at the default level of 80%. I kept it there and "just drove car" in Hybrid mode. The car briefly started in electric mode and switched to gas as we hit the highway. In a short period of time the battery charge level dropped to 40 km (ie. 80%) and stayed there.
We made a few stops along the way, and occasionally I forgot to hit the Battery Control button again, but the regenerative capabilities of the vehicle quickly moved it back up to 40 km. When we arrived in Tarrytown, I switched off Battery Control and drove around in electric mode.
I was tracking the gas usage manually, but the car will do the same thing with some reliability on an extended drive and it registered that we averaged of 8.8 litres/100 km, which Google translated to almost 27 MPG US gallon. Not bad for a 5700 lb vehicle.
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