Is the 45e self-charging?

pchansen · 10-26-2021, 06:10 PM

We currently have a 2019 X7 50i and it has been a beautiful car. The only issue is it will pass pretty much anything on the road except for a gas station. It's breathtaking how hungry this beast is. Given the crazy trade in values, I'm considering trading into an X5 PHEV. Seems like a silly question but I can't seem to find a straight answer. Will the engine charge up the battery while underway. So say, you're in Portland and you deplete the battery running around town and then you head north to Seattle for more business. When your arrive, will you be able to go back into electric mode with a relatively fresh battery?

allinon72 · 10-26-2021, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pchansen

We currently have a 2019 X7 50i and it has been a beautiful car. The only issue is it will pass pretty much anything on the road except for a gas station. It's breathtaking how hungry this beast is. Given the crazy trade in values, I'm considering trading into an X5 PHEV. Seems like a silly question but I can't seem to find a straight answer. Will the engine charge up the battery while underway. So say, you're in Portland and you deplete the battery running around town and then you head north to Seattle for more business. When your arrive, will you be able to go back into electric mode with a relatively fresh battery?

Absolutely, there is a mode for that and it works really well. Obviously if you deplete the battery and ask the car to charge it while on the highway, it uses a decent amount of fuel but it works as intended.

45e21 · 10-26-2021, 06:27 PM

The simple answer is yes - using the “battery hold” mode, you can tell the car to retain certain amount of charge. But based on your desire to get more fuel efficiency, it is not advisable. You are incurring losses while charging the battery and then again converting battery charge to drive the car. You will have better mileage just using ICE all the way. The battery hold functionality to was designed to keep heating/cooling available in case you need it and to allow all electric operation in some European cities that have mandated it.

Also note that 45e does not have option of third row seating - since you are coming from X7.

jad03060 · 10-26-2021, 06:52 PM

Even if the gauge says you cannot travel any distance in EV mode, that does not mean that you won't get some EV boost to the ICE when it needs it. The only time you may not, is if you'd run the batteries down to their limit (that isn't really zero, but there's a limit that helps from damaging them) is if you were on a long uphill grade...course, going down the grade, you can regain a fair amount of energy back into the batteries because of regeneration. In the interim, you will tend to get better mileage than the 40i, and certainly better than the X7.

If you need some extra EV miles at say the end of the trip, it may be better to set the battery hold function when you start to some value (I like 30% or so for most things when on a longer trip and need EV motive power and can't recharge right away), as then, you're not trying to recharge the batteries, but will only maintain them once they get to that level.

On my first and only long trip so far (about 2000-miles), I averaged about 28-mpg, fully loaded, almost no opportunity to recharge along the way.

pchansen · 10-26-2021, 06:53 PM

Thank you very much for the quick replies! I thought that this was the case but surprisingly not a lot of info regarding how the battery is charged aside from plugging it in and regen braking. Just kicked the last kid to the curb (college actually) so the X5 will be perfect. If anyone is interested in a pristine X7, just say the word!

jad03060 · 10-26-2021, 07:02 PM

The battery hold is part of the design, primarily, to accommodate driving in places where you either pay a huge fee, or drive an EV or low emission vehicle. Just read today that London is expanding that area that used to just be central part of the city to an area about 144 sqmi sometime soon. We don't have any of those areas in the USA (yet), but they may come eventually.

I set it to 30% so I could precondition or keep the cabin comfortable while stopped if people didn't want to get out at a rest stop. Both the heating and cooling is run by the HV batteries, so without some level of charge there, you have no HVAC until the engine can pump some power back into them.

Flying Ace · 10-26-2021, 10:05 PM

Someone posted that the overall best efficiency return is to just program your destination as the midpoint in navigation, and your home as the final destination.

Then when you set the car on adaptive, The car would use just a right amounts of electricity such that when you arrive home, you have minimum EV miles left.

That said the battery hold function is very useful for long trips, if your final destination is in a major city with lots of stop and go. Though it's hard to gauge at what point is the "break even". I would just set the car on adaptive and put the destination in the idrive.

10-26-2021, 06:10 PM	#1
pchansen Private 27 Rep 98 Posts Drives: 19 X7 50i13%C2%92 X328i Join Date: Feb 2019 Location: PacNW iTrader: (0)	Is the 45e self-charging? We currently have a 2019 X7 50i and it has been a beautiful car. The only issue is it will pass pretty much anything on the road except for a gas station. It's breathtaking how hungry this beast is. Given the crazy trade in values, I'm considering trading into an X5 PHEV. Seems like a silly question but I can't seem to find a straight answer. Will the engine charge up the battery while underway. So say, you're in Portland and you deplete the battery running around town and then you head north to Seattle for more business. When your arrive, will you be able to go back into electric mode with a relatively fresh battery?
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10-26-2021, 06:27 PM	#3
45e21 Second Lieutenant 153 Rep 210 Posts Drives: 2021 X5 45e Join Date: May 2021 Location: NY iTrader: (0)	The simple answer is yes - using the “battery hold” mode, you can tell the car to retain certain amount of charge. But based on your desire to get more fuel efficiency, it is not advisable. You are incurring losses while charging the battery and then again converting battery charge to drive the car. You will have better mileage just using ICE all the way. The battery hold functionality to was designed to keep heating/cooling available in case you need it and to allow all electric operation in some European cities that have mandated it. Also note that 45e does not have option of third row seating - since you are coming from X7.
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10-26-2021, 06:52 PM	#4
jad03060 Major General 3164 Rep 6,805 Posts Drives: X5 45e Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: NH iTrader: (0)	Even if the gauge says you cannot travel any distance in EV mode, that does not mean that you won't get some EV boost to the ICE when it needs it. The only time you may not, is if you'd run the batteries down to their limit (that isn't really zero, but there's a limit that helps from damaging them) is if you were on a long uphill grade...course, going down the grade, you can regain a fair amount of energy back into the batteries because of regeneration. In the interim, you will tend to get better mileage than the 40i, and certainly better than the X7. If you need some extra EV miles at say the end of the trip, it may be better to set the battery hold function when you start to some value (I like 30% or so for most things when on a longer trip and need EV motive power and can't recharge right away), as then, you're not trying to recharge the batteries, but will only maintain them once they get to that level. On my first and only long trip so far (about 2000-miles), I averaged about 28-mpg, fully loaded, almost no opportunity to recharge along the way.
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10-26-2021, 06:53 PM	#5
pchansen Private 27 Rep 98 Posts Drives: 19 X7 50i13%C2%92 X328i Join Date: Feb 2019 Location: PacNW iTrader: (0)	Thank you very much for the quick replies! I thought that this was the case but surprisingly not a lot of info regarding how the battery is charged aside from plugging it in and regen braking. Just kicked the last kid to the curb (college actually) so the X5 will be perfect. If anyone is interested in a pristine X7, just say the word!
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10-26-2021, 07:02 PM	#6
jad03060 Major General 3164 Rep 6,805 Posts Drives: X5 45e Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: NH iTrader: (0)	The battery hold is part of the design, primarily, to accommodate driving in places where you either pay a huge fee, or drive an EV or low emission vehicle. Just read today that London is expanding that area that used to just be central part of the city to an area about 144 sqmi sometime soon. We don't have any of those areas in the USA (yet), but they may come eventually. I set it to 30% so I could precondition or keep the cabin comfortable while stopped if people didn't want to get out at a rest stop. Both the heating and cooling is run by the HV batteries, so without some level of charge there, you have no HVAC until the engine can pump some power back into them.
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10-26-2021, 10:05 PM	#7
Flying Ace Lieutenant General 4985 Rep 11,891 Posts Drives: G05 45e, 997.1 & 991.1 GT3s Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: SF, CA iTrader: (5)	Someone posted that the overall best efficiency return is to just program your destination as the midpoint in navigation, and your home as the final destination. Then when you set the car on adaptive, The car would use just a right amounts of electricity such that when you arrive home, you have minimum EV miles left. That said the battery hold function is very useful for long trips, if your final destination is in a major city with lots of stop and go. Though it's hard to gauge at what point is the "break even". I would just set the car on adaptive and put the destination in the idrive. __________________ 22 Phytonic/Coffee X5 45e (CoVID-free) 08 Speed Yellow 911 GT3 Sharkwerks 12 AW/Cinnamon X5d Sports Pkg (retired) 14 AW/Beige M6GC ZCP, MPE, V2 steering wheel, vorsteiner (retired) 08 SSII/Black E90 M3 (retired)
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