[JillX5M]

I am considering building a 2023 X45e but I am so hesitant to pull the trigger. What happens if the battery needs replacement after 8 years (I know the warranty is 8 years) and then I am on the hook for $8,000? I think that's how much the battery can cost. That defeats the whole purpose of the cost efficiency. We keep our cars forever.

Also, how do I know if the wiring and breaker in my house can handle the charging? My home is 17 years old. I am worried about that part and how much it would increase my electricity by. What calculator do you recommend for figuring this out?

[nZtiZia]

a couple guys in EU got their battery arrays entirely replaced. it cost $20k. (luckily, warranty covered it.) with costs like that, one can’t think of keeping hybrid vehicles long term like we used to think, though battery tech could be better and costs could be lower in the future. plus, replacement may not involve the entire array but individual modules, of which there are 12 with each containing 16 battery cells

consult an electrician regarding your home wiring and electric capability. costs will vary depending where you live and your electric company, whether or not you have off-peak rates, etc. your use case may vary from all of us, so our numbers won’t mean much.

that being said, where I live, my electricity rates, and with my daily use case, I benefit from the electric side of things. the last time I filled up was in the first week of December, and the tank is still 80% full

[clutchless]

Your house can handle charging the X45e. My neighborhood houses are around 25 years old and 2 neighbors have Teslas with charging stations added to their garages. Call a couple of electricians for information and an estimate. Here is info on types of EV charging.https://www.electricforall.org/how-c...0the%20battery.

Regarding the big battery, that is a great question and may be a deal killer. The Toyota hybrid batteries are known for mostly lasting way beyond the 8 year warranty. But the lifespan of the newer lithium batteries is unknown. However car companies do perform a lot of durability and lifespan testing. But in the end, who knows and you may want to get rid of it after the battery warranty expires.
There are also hybrid shops that can diagnose and replace individual bad cells in a hybrid or ev battery and repair it for far less than full replacement cost.

[JillX5M]

Originally Posted by nZtiZia

a couple guys in EU got their battery arrays entirely replaced. it cost $20k. (luckily, warranty covered it.) with costs like that, one can’t think of keeping hybrid vehicles long term like we used to think, though battery tech could be better and costs could be lower in the future.

consult an electrician regarding your home wiring and electric capability. costs will vary depending where you live and your electric company, whether or not you have off-peak rates, etc. your use case may vary from all of us, so our numbers won’t mean much.

that being said, where I live, my electricity rates, and with my daily use case, I benefit from the electric side of things. the last time I filled up was in the first week of December, and the tank is still 80% full

Right but if the battery dies and it's not under warranty, that basically kills the entire cost efficiency of being the hybrid. We keep our cars forever. I hope to keep this X5 for 15 years. My last Mercedes I kept for 11 years and I bought it used.

[JillX5M]

Originally Posted by clutchless

Your house can handle charging the X45e. My neighborhood houses are around 25 years old and 2 neighbors have Teslas with charging stations added to their garages. Call a couple of electricians for information and an estimate. Here is info on types of EV charging.https://www.electricforall.org/how-c...0the%20battery.

Regarding the big battery, that is a great question and may be a deal killer. The Toyota hybrid batteries are known for mostly lasting way beyond the 8 year warranty. But the lifespan of the newer lithium batteries is unknown. However car companies do perform a lot of durability and lifespan testing. But in the end, who knows and you may want to get rid of it after the battery warranty expires.
There are also hybrid shops that can diagnose and replace individual bad cells in a hybrid or ev battery and repair it for far less than full replacement cost.

Right but if the battery dies and it's not under warranty, that basically kills the entire cost efficiency of being the hybrid. We keep our cars forever. I hope to keep this X5 for 15 years. My last Mercedes I kept for 11 years and I bought it used.

[cellarrat]

Originally Posted by JillX5M

I am considering building a 2023 X45e but I am so hesitant to pull the trigger. What happens if the battery needs replacement after 8 years (I know the warranty is 8 years) and then I am on the hook for $8,000? I think that's how much the battery can cost. That defeats the whole purpose of the cost efficiency. We keep our cars forever.

Also, how do I know if the wiring and breaker in my house can handle the charging? My home is 17 years old. I am worried about that part and how much it would increase my electricity by. What calculator do you recommend for figuring this out?

I don't know that anyone can really give you the comfort you might want, but look at it this way: the warranty is 8 years/80k miles (longer in some states I believe). BMW has no interest in replacing a bunch of batteries 75k miles into your ownership of the vehicle, so they must be pretty confident in the 80k number

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by JillX5M

Right but if the battery dies and it's not under warranty, that basically kills the entire cost efficiency of being the hybrid. We keep our cars forever. I hope to keep this X5 for 15 years. My last Mercedes I kept for 11 years and I bought it used.

as I mentioned, “keeping cars forever” made sense with older, strictly mechanically-based vehicles of yore, but that way of thinking may not be applicable to hybrids. new tech comes with new evaluations and re-evaluations.

still, even at some point, the high cost to maintain a 15-year-old ICE vehicle (think new engine) will preclude from keeping it. same can be said of a hybrid’s batteries…

to put it in your words: “if the engine dies and it’s not under warranty, that basically kills the entire cost efficiency of the vehicle.”

[eelnoraa]

Not sure in UK, but here where I live, houses were build in the 60's. People are charging all kind of EVs. It is your electrical infrastructure that matters, not necessary the age of your home. Please have an electrician give you an evaluation. People our side of UK, won't know enough your local code to give your accurate assessment anyway

As to the increase in electricity usage, it is either electricity or gas money, right? what ever miles you move to EV, less on gas. The key is calcuate $/mile driven.

45e will do average about 2mile/kWh. Take your cost of electricity / 2mile/kWh for cost of $/EV mile. And take 22mpg for reference (40i) number. Take $/gal / 22MPG. If $/EV mile is lower, than 45e make sense. If $/EV mile is higher, than maybe 45e doens't make sense.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by JillX5M

I am considering building a 2023 X45e but I am so hesitant to pull the trigger. What happens if the battery needs replacement after 8 years (I know the warranty is 8 years) and then I am on the hook for $8,000? I think that's how much the battery can cost. That defeats the whole purpose of the cost efficiency. We keep our cars forever.

Also, how do I know if the wiring and breaker in my house can handle the charging? My home is 17 years old. I am worried about that part and how much it would increase my electricity by. What calculator do you recommend for figuring this out?

As an aside, the allocations for the 45e are dwindling so don’t wait too long.

[JillX5M]

Originally Posted by TurtleBoy

As an aside, the allocations for the 45e are dwindling so don’t wait too long.

What do you mean?

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by JillX5M

What do you mean?

The last of the allocations for the 45e came out a couple of weeks ago so it could be very difficult to order a 45e.

[JillX5M]

Originally Posted by TurtleBoy

The last of the allocations for the 45e came out a couple of weeks ago so it could be very difficult to order a 45e.

Are you saying they aren't building any more 2023 X45e's anymore?

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by JillX5M

Are you saying they aren't building any more 2023 X45e's anymore?

They will be ending production in March. The 50e will start production in April.

[aMIC]

I would expect that all the major battery issues to happen during warranty and have then fixed for free.
I would also expect that after 8 years the total capacity of the traction battery to naturally decrease, but the capacity of usable battery (17kW i.e. 70% of total capacity for US) to just slightly decrease.
I just hope so :-)

[JillX5M]

Originally Posted by TurtleBoy

They will be ending production in March. The 50e will start production in April.

Sounds like I might have a chance to still get it since we are in February! Fingers crossed if we decide to go this route. I am still so torn if I want electric hybrid or regular!

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by JillX5M

Sounds like I might have a chance to still get it since we are in February! Fingers crossed if we decide to go this route. I am still so torn if I want electric hybrid or regular!

You will have to call around to various dealers and check, you may have to expand your search to neighboring states. The allocations were given out a few weeks ago and dealers have sold them.

[mnx5er]

Originally Posted by aMIC

I would expect that all the major battery issues to happen during warranty and have then fixed for free.
I would also expect that after 8 years the total capacity of the traction battery to naturally decrease, but the capacity of usable battery (17kW i.e. 70% of total capacity for US) to just slightly decrease.
I just hope so :-)

Sadly batteries die as they age. See laptops, iPhones, etc. Tesla owners are starting to learn how nasty replacement costs are.

BMW charging $20K for the X5 battery is nuts, that is what Tesla is charging for much larger batteries. Only hope is that battery technology improves and prices fall.

[careyd38]

I’ve always wondered…will the X5 45e (or any hybrid car) even run without the hybrid battery? If you don’t want to replace the battery can/will it still run on ICE?

[Jeff661]

What happens if the transmission needs replacement after 4 years? If you buy in California you get 10 year battery warranty.

[eluded]

For the home, electricity, open up your breaker box and see what the amperage is in and if you have any open slots.

If you have an electric clothes dryer, someone sells a cool device that you can plug into that outlet and bifurcate two cables one to the dryer and one to the electric car, and it will handle use case of If you turn both of them on, Ie, disables the electric, charging until the dryer is done.

[Guy Fleegman]

Originally Posted by JillX5M

I am considering building a 2023 X45e but I am so hesitant to pull the trigger. What happens if the battery needs replacement after 8 years (I know the warranty is 8 years) and then I am on the hook for $8,000? I think that's how much the battery can cost. That defeats the whole purpose of the cost efficiency. We keep our cars forever.

If, if, if.... Yes, replacement cost for the battery out of warranty would be very high. A lot of these cars are going to be reaching their 8-year mark before long and we'll have more information.

When I get near the end of the warranty period I may dump the car, see what extended warranties are available, or simply weigh the cost of the battery against the cost of another car.

In the meantime, I'm loving the HELL out of this car. Carpe diem!

[cellarrat]

This is an entirely new market at this level. I assume that there will be non-OEM replacement batteries available at non-OEM prices by the time anyone with a 45e needs an non-warranty replacement.