[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by SmartSaves

It'll feel really bad if we get MY21 and BMW makes substantial updates in MY22.

+1, I agree entirely with Hank after watching the last 10 years of BMW progression and I'd add that, especially for the PHEVs, things will get quiet to save the spotlight for the i4 and iNext. They may add back soft-close doors, cupholders, night vision, and stuff like that, but I doubt there'll be any big 45e updates (of course you never know).

If I had to bet (and I kinda am), I'd say the 45e is good for 3-5 years until one would want the next evolution of BMW tech. Further I'd say that goes for just about every BEV/PHEV out there - the tech is changing too fast and prices are coming down fast ... if e-tech-FOMO is a thing for someone, almost no PHEV/BEV should be purchased ... hell my 2018 on iDrive 6 looks super old compared to the iDrive 7 tech so maybe that applies to cars in general.

If I wanted a 10 year BEV it'd be Tesla and a new model S or X for sure given the design; the ota software updates will provide maximum tech/features refresh rates as the "hardware" part of the car is somewhat generic. If I wasn't in a rush I'd wait a year or so to see if the new Tesla battery tech due in the Model Y makes it to market and then I'd jump on that.

[jad03060]

In five years or so, you'll start to see solid state cells, and that could be a major game changer. If the green energy starts to take off, producing hydrogen with excess will become dirt cheap, and fuel cells will become much more common.

I think it was Mercedes that recently announced it is going to bring the first solid state batteries, but first in busses, not POVs. The energy density of batteries keeps getting larger, and eventually, we'll see more and more fast charging points, but it's going to be a long time before you see lots of them capable of the 350Kw that a few vehicles have announced. You have to be near a main power line to make that happen, and probably also supply some stored energy capacity to keep the spike on the grid in check.

But, a hybrid doesn't really need a fast DC charging circuit...a BEV will, and those will show up. The X5 as a hybrid will be around for awhile until the infrastructure catches up.

[moodyhank82]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

If I had to bet (and I kinda am), I'd say the 45e is good for 3-5 years until one would want the next evolution of BMW tech. Further I'd say that goes for just about every BEV/PHEV out there - the tech is changing too fast and prices are coming down fast ... if e-tech-FOMO is a thing for someone, almost no PHEV/BEV should be purchased ...

That is my thinking also and why I will be trading in my Tesla for the 45e (other than needing a larger vehicle). In a year or two there will be a Model 3 or Y that will be either significantly cheaper for the same range or that will have significantly more range for the same price. We are at the rapid development/improvement phase with the batteries as well as EV powertrains.

A PHEV on the other hand does not change as much and as fast with the battery and electric powertrain improvements. So to me until the EV tech improvement pace plateaus (mid to late 2020s with the solid state batteries?) PHEVs offer a lower risk ownership proposition while providing most of the EV benefits...

[ketrab]

Originally Posted by X5 45e

No it is not a joke. It is something you can activate and works for 3 minutes. It creates a vitalizing or relaxing atmosphere in the car.

I would be mad as well

[ketrab]

Originally Posted by jad03060

But, a hybrid doesn't really need a fast DC charging circuit...a BEV will, and those will show up. The X5 as a hybrid will be around for awhile until the infrastructure catches up.

Problem with slow charging is that it defeats using public level 2 chargers in my opinion. You'll almost gain no miles, at least you get vip spot on the parking lot but that's it.

You can see more and more places with EV charging stations. Hoping between stores you could regen a lot costing you even less charging at home.

[aceman]

Well folks,

OP Here. Just brought my 45e home. Got really lucky and got a dealer ordered car that was still configurable so I placed my order on 8/31, and took delivery today - incredibly fast.

My build is CB/black, pretty well loaded up. I plan on starting to post some data here soon. My daily commute is 30 miles each way, 50/50 suburban/hwy mileage.

I picked her up with almost no juice - seems the salesman didn't realize there is a setting in idrive to adjust the max current. Anyway - got her home, increased to 16amps, and much quicker.

Couple of questions / comments -

1 - is the humming noise normal when its charging?
2 - I want to give it an agressive stance, anyone lower just the front or will that be too risky / not possible with air suspension?
3 - I can't get connected drive app to do anything like turn lights on/honk/3d camera. It does communicate w/ the car b/c I see its charging/mileage/etc - anyone have any ideas?

Thats all for now - appreciate any input. Couple pics....

[RocketGoBoom]

Originally Posted by jad03060

If the green energy starts to take off, producing hydrogen with excess will become dirt cheap, and fuel cells will become much more common.

I would be willing to bet just about any amount of money that hydrogen and fuel cells will never become common or affordable for vehicle applications.

1) Converting electricity to hydrogen you lose energy. Then converting hydrogen back into useful electricity via a fuel cell, you lose even more energy. You end up wasting 2/3 of your energy thru multiple conversions.

2) Hydrogen refueling stations will never make sense because it is really tough to store and transport hydrogen.

3) nobody wants to have pressurized hydrogen storage tanks on their car during an accident.

We will see how the market votes on EVs vs Hydrogen fuel cell cars. But so far nobody is even remotely close to doing hydrogen. It has been 10 years in the future for the past 40 years.

[jad03060]

If you have excess solar, or wind, geothermal, or tidal generated electricity, making hydrogen doesn't really cost you anything. If you have the power, you can make hydrogen where you have access to water, so you don't have to ship it. But, that situation doesn't exist (yet). It costs a fair amount to store excess green energy, and those devices just keep making the power, so why not use it for something else when you have more than you're currently needing?

Anyway, today, a lot of hydrogen is stripped out of fossil fuels, and not very green. It's sort of a chicken and egg thing...you won't have the vehicles until you have the fuel and vice versa.

[RocketGoBoom]

Originally Posted by jad03060

If you have excess solar, or wind, geothermal, or tidal generated electricity, making hydrogen doesn't really cost you anything. If you have the power, you can make hydrogen where you have access to water, so you don't have to ship it. But, that situation doesn't exist (yet). It costs a fair amount to store excess green energy, and those devices just keep making the power, so why not use it for something else when you have more than you're currently needing?

Anyway, today, a lot of hydrogen is stripped out of fossil fuels, and not very green. It's sort of a chicken and egg thing...you won't have the vehicles until you have the fuel and vice versa.

Making hydrogen always costs something. There is no such thing as excess solar, wind, etc. We have numerous natural gas peaking power plants to make up for the intermittency of solar and wind power. Natural Gas currently provides baseload and peak flexibility for solar and wind. If there is more solar and wind available on a given day, the first thing the grid operators do is reduce Natural Gas power production.

Nobody is making hydrogen with extra solar and wind, except as an experiment or hobby.

I have a 16.38 kW solar system on my roof, which is about 3x larger than the average sized system in the USA. Even with that, there is no extra free solar for other uses. Over 100% of my solar is consumed by the house and BMW plugin hybrid.

As more EVs and PHEVs are sold, we are unlikely to ever have surplus renewable solar and wind.

[Caramel]

Originally Posted by RocketGoBoom

I have a 16.38 kW solar system on my roof, which is about 3x larger than the average sized system in the USA.

scnr: The average system size is 5 kW. Yours is three times as large, i.e. it is two times larger.

[jad03060]

The grid load tends to go down at night. Some power sources can continue to work just fine once the sun goes down (wind, tidal, hydro, geothermal for example). During those times, there may be excess power capacity from the 'green' sources. That is when you might consider making some hydrogen. When, or if we ever get to that point, we'll have some choices.

Fuel cell vehicles aren't all that prevalent because there are few public refueling stations out there. That also means the economy of scale isn't there to drop the price of the units. ANd, today, most hydrogen is produced from natural gas, and isn't all that green. There's been a lot of research on electrodes that can work long-term with various water sources, and that will likely improve over time. Today, electrolysis, isn't that reliable as a source because of the cost and the electrode wear. Refine the electrodes, and with green energy, it becomes a much more viable solution.

The current administration certainly isn't going to help this along as they are pressing fossil fuels. More and more solar and wind power is being installed, because the prices are coming down compared to traditional sources. This could continue with a bit of focus on it.

[FLYIN']

Got 42 miles on pure electric driving today before it reverted back to hybrid mode. Average of 45mph starting off in some stop and go city traffic ( for around 5 miles) and then about 15 miles at 55mph before all highway at 65-70. The battery really goes down at over 60mph though. I think if you keep it under 60mph you could get 45-50 miles. I also have the M Sport package and really wide 22" tires so those of you with less aggressive wheels and tires could see better.

[jad03060]

Speed is the biggest thing on energy use as drag goes up exponentially. Well, driving up a long slope isn't great either! Once you get up to speed, maintaining it is mostly drag that gets you.

[X5 45e]

Originally Posted by FLYIN'

Got 42 miles on pure electric driving today before it reverted back to hybrid mode. Average of 45mph starting off in some stop and go city traffic ( for around 5 miles) and then about 15 miles at 55mph before all highway at 65-70. The battery really goes down at over 60mph though. I think if you keep it under 60mph you could get 45-50 miles. I also have the M Sport package and really wide 22" tires so those of you with less aggressive wheels and tires could see better.

Nice numbers.

What driving mode did you driven in. Electric individual or hybrid?

I did a 80% highway (75 mph) drive yesterday in all electric and had 63 km (39,5 miles) from 100 % to almost empty arriving back home.

These numbers are comparable.

My absolute maximum was 51 Miles on 30-40 mph roads.

If the numbers you are reporting are the range we are going to see in other US cars too, I wonder if they changed free netto battery capacity, or did they just use a low expected EPA range?

In Europe, the published WLTP electric range is 102 - 87 km. That is an unrealistic range we are never going to get.

[FLYIN']

That was in electric individual, which you need to select as otherwise it just switches to hybrid as it gets to higher speeds.

[X5 45e]

Originally Posted by FLYIN'

That was in electric individual, which you need to select as otherwise it just switches to hybrid as it gets to higher speeds.

Thx.

[aceman]

So I've had the car for 3 days. Put about 165 miles on it, have only driven in hybrid mode. Thus far, of the 165 miles, the car has 80 miles in electric, avg mpg is 42.

I have not done full on electric mode (yet), that is coming. Still having issues getting my connected app working. The app comunicates w/ the car (it sees the charge level and if its charging), but I still can't get preconditioning/locate vehicle/lights/horn to work - will swing by the dealership for that.

Tried Drivers assistance for the first time - really odd letting the car do the breaking/accelerating, but seems to work well.

Several areas I don't like on I drive, like when i say "Call home" - it takes its time, much longer than the benz to recognize.

Also found many areas where once done, the screen doesn't go back to home settings - that's annoying (like once the call is finished).

Will do some full on electric driving this week. Thus far - have NOT been able to have the car show a range higher than 30-31 miles on electric.

Aceman

[RocketGoBoom]

When I am driving towards home, I like to turn on my Apple map to see how many miles I have, then check how many estimated electric miles I have. When the two numbers meet, I go full electric in order to verify if the range estimate is accurate.

Yesterday I was downtown and heading home.
Apple Maps indicated 16 miles to home.
BMW X5 EV range was also 16 miles.

Arrived home with 3 miles of EV range remaining, and that was with a few miles at 80+ mph (129+ km/h) on the highway and normal to quick driving. I was not babying it.

My anecdotal observation is that when full, the miles tick down on the estimate range quicker. But near the middle and end, the estimates are very conservative and you likely do have that much electric range or more.

[aceman]

Rocket -

When you charge, at full, is the car telling you 30-32 miles typically or are you seeing higher?

Aceman

[RocketGoBoom]

Originally Posted by aceman

Rocket -

When you charge, at full, is the car telling you 30-32 miles typically or are you seeing higher?

Aceman

When my car is full, I see 39-44 miles usually. The most I have ever seen is 47 miles. The least I have ever seen when full was 37 miles.

My BMW 45e is showing 40 right now on the app.
I just hopped in and turned on the AC and it changed to 37.

I think the highest number I have seen was when I timed my departure for right when it finished recharging and I used climatizing also.
Pack voltage settles down after a few hours, so I think maximum EV range is departing right when it finishes.

I believe it is also calculating estimated EV range based on how efficiently you have been driving in the recent history, not sure how far that calc is going back.

[jad03060]

On an i3, it's a rolling average of your last 18-miles or so...I do not know what the window on the X5 is, but probably similar.

[FLYIN']

Originally Posted by jad03060

On an i3, it's a rolling average of your last 18-miles or so...I do not know what the window on the X5 is, but probably similar.

You can select the history on the X 5 for all they way back at least 2 weeks or just the last trip. I think you can go back longer too but I have only had it two weeks