[jpw172]

Notice lately where I was getting 52 miles of electric range when I first picked up my X5 50e in Sept and has been going down lately in range to now not even 40. Anyone else noticing this?

[hmbmd116]

Cold weather will reduce range. I too am in the high 30s

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by jpw172

Notice lately where I was getting 52 miles of electric range when I first picked up my X5 50e in Sept and has been going down lately in range to now not even 40. Anyone else noticing this?

normal now that it’s getting cold. batteries don’t like the cold. my 45e that normally gets 33-37 miles in warmer weather is only getting 25-29 miles here in Virginia. no change in commute or driving style

[biterror]

Originally Posted by nZtiZia

normal now that it’s getting cold. batteries don’t like the cold. my 45e that normally gets 33-37 miles in warmer weather is only getting 25-29 miles here in Virginia. no change in commute or driving style

You also need a few kilowatts of power for heating the cabin.

[Di3s3l_Power]

HVAC, especially heating takes a huge hit on efficiency,
I bet if you run without HVAC on you will get the same miles as in Sept

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by biterror

You also need a few kilowatts of power for heating the cabin.

understood, yet this is the range I get upon full charge while plugged in and preconditioning, so it’s as optimized for travel as much as it can. the estimated range would be even less if it weren’t plugged in while preconditioning

[apw2607]

Originally Posted by jpw172

Notice lately where I was getting 52 miles of electric range when I first picked up my X5 50e in Sept and has been going down lately in range to now not even 40. Anyone else noticing this?

Winter cold months. Completely normal.

[jpw172]

Originally Posted by Di3s3l_Power

HVAC, especially heating takes a huge hit on efficiency,
I bet if you run without HVAC on you will get the same miles as in Sept

Thanks. So summer cooling isn’t as I wasn’t having issues with even in the high 80s and 90s?

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by jpw172

Thanks. So summer cooling isn’t as I wasn’t having issues with even in the high 80s and 90s?

Summer isn't nearly as bad since it is more than just heating that reduces your range. The air is denser, cold affects batteries, generally lower tire pressures, etc.

Edit: Found this page by the EPA concerning cold weather mileage. The summary says:

Cold weather effects can vary by vehicle model. However, expect conventional gasoline vehicles to suffer a 10% to 20% fuel economy loss in city driving and a 15% to 33% loss on short trips.

For hybrids, fuel economy typically decreases by 20% to 40% in city driving and 25% to 45% on short trips.

When the cabin heater is not used, EV fuel economy is 8% lower at 20°F than at 75°F. Driving range is about 12% lower.


https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/coldweather.shtml

[jad03060]

An a/c system can move in the order of 3W of heat out through the use of 1W of power for the compressor. Heating takes 3W to produce 3W, so heating is much less effective and a bigger draw. Plus, you might have the seat heaters on, plus the mirrors, rear window defroster which will suck up some watts, too. Worst case is multiple short hops where it can cool off in between. If you can plug in, preconditioning gets the power used restored from the EVSE so you leave with most of it, depending on how cold it is (a warm garage helps versus sitting outside).

Check your tire pressures, and make sure they're right for the ambient conditions...they'll drop about 1# per 10-degrees F colder it gets. SOfter tires, more drag, and clean off all of the snow, as that adds both drag and weight.

FWIW, an ICE tends to be less efficient in the wintertime as well, but since it has excess heat for cabin warming, not to the same degree as an EV or PHEV for electrical functions.

[David3]

When you picked up your X5 it was in virgin state without having learned any driving habits. As you drive it learns your driving style and projects range accordingly. If you drive your X5 aggressively, the next time you recharge your range will be lower when battery is full and vise versa. After I pull a trailer, the next charge and my range is several miles less on full charge. And, of course environmental conditions

[jpw172]

Originally Posted by David3

When you picked up your X5 it was in virgin state without having learned any driving habits. As you drive it learns your driving style and projects range accordingly. If you drive your X5 aggressively, the next time you recharge your range will be lower when battery is full and vise versa. After I pull a trailer, the next charge and my range is several miles less on full charge. And, of course environmental conditions

Thanks. I’ve been making short trips lately too in town, not highway, about 15-20 miles RT.

[jpw172]

Originally Posted by TurtleBoy

Summer isn't nearly as bad since it is more than just heating that reduces your range. The air is denser, cold affects batteries, generally lower tire pressures, etc.

Edit: Found this page by the EPA concerning cold weather mileage. The summary says:

Cold weather effects can vary by vehicle model. However, expect conventional gasoline vehicles to suffer a 10% to 20% fuel economy loss in city driving and a 15% to 33% loss on short trips.

For hybrids, fuel economy typically decreases by 20% to 40% in city driving and 25% to 45% on short trips.

When the cabin heater is not used, EV fuel economy is 8% lower at 20°F than at 75°F. Driving range is about 12% lower.


https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/coldweather.shtml

Thanks for the info, appreciate it.

[jad03060]

The EV range left is a continuous, moving average of the past 18-miles of your driving, and assumes the next driving will be exactly the same which rarely happens on shorter trips. It can be pretty accurate on a longer trip.

Through my EV and PHEV use, I've seen it where after a stressful battery use, on a subsequent much less stressful run, the estimated range stayed the same after having driven as much as 13-miles since those next miles were much less stressful on the battery use (that was on the EV that had a much larger battery). Over time, you'll get a good idea of how far you can go in your anticipated drive conditions, but the estimated number, while accurate based on prior use, does not necessarily reflect your future use.

It will almost always be less when it's cold out versus in more mild conditions...one of the realities of EVs or PHEVs. A heat pump would help, but for now, BMW only uses them on some of their EVs, not the PHEV (well, the i3 REx had one, but that was unique being a rare serial hybrid versus a more typical parallel one).

[SwissBeemer]

I'll copy my reply from the other thread to maybe add some additional info.

Problem is mostly two-fold as far as I know:

1) Battery being less capable and efficient when it is cold (The colder the battery the higher the internal resistance leading to reaching the cut-off voltage earlier when charging, so less capacity, and less efficient discharging)
2) Heating
3) Other factors e.g. winter tyres have more rolling resistance, cold air is denser, etc.

When you are at a standstill you will notice that your car will be pulling somewhere between 4-6 "kWh/h", so kW, mostly for heating. That is quite a lot considering your battery capacity is only ~25kWh (in Europe) and even less in the US. (Not sure how much but I think 21kWh?) So on a 30mi trip at 60mph average that's ~3kWh (14%) additionally for heating, at 30mph that's 6kWh. (28%!) In summertime those 3-6kWh would've otherwise translated to roughly 6-12mi of additional range.

I was worried about the same thing but monitored the consumption on the commute from the very beginning, so a standardized route of roughly 43mi with hardly any traffic. When no a/c or heating was needed it would need around 27kWh/100km, or ~2.3mi/kWh, while right now it needs up to 37kWh/100km, or 1.68mi/kWh. A 37% increase in consumption due to heating and winter tyres. (Also the air is denser.) My electric range dropped from ~60mi to ~50mi so while I was able to do the commute with 75% in summertime I'll need 85% now, sometimes even almost 90% when it is raining/snowing and/or very cold.

Preconditioning was mentioned before. It saves 5-10% of battery for me on the 40 minutes/43mi commute, depending on the temperature and how long it was preconditioned for. At least my 50e is pulling 100% of the energy needed from the wall, so the battery stays untouched.

[Jersey1957]

Same problem. Range fell by 16% in 3 weeks with no reduction in ambient temperature. With the colder temps, I am now down about 24%. Originally I got 42 miles, now 32.

[jad03060]

Some PHEV and EV vehicles' range can vary even more than what those have indicated during cold weather. When possible, turn preconditioning on while still plugged in to maximize your range.