[superflysocal]

I currently drive an iX and love the convenience of never having to get gas.

For the next car in the household, we usually would get an ICE car to replace the current ice car because the state we live in doesn't have the full infrastruture to support convenient road trips with BEV car.

I was thinking of going with an X5 PHEV instead of a gas only car. With the way we drive and distance to work and most places, we could literally charge the car every night and probably not ever need gas except on very rare days and road trips.

My concern is how bad it would be for the gas engine if it is literally hardly driven (leave on EV mode)? Will the gas or oil in the car go bad? Does car manufacturers recommend the gas engine gets turned on ever so often?

[jad03060]

While all gas tanks are sealed from releasing vapors to the atmosphere (often it's an activated carbon filter), the PhEV goes an extra step to prevent those vapors from getting sucked back into the engine when it does run helping to keep them from degrading the fuel. Many of the owners, myself included, have gone many months without the ICE coming on or having to refill the tank without any issues. My longest stint was 7-months before I had to refill it...the engine started up without issues when needed.

This adds a short delay when getting ready to refill the tank while any pressure buildup gets taken care of before it will unlock the filler door so you can access the gas cap - maybe 30-seconds or so after you press the button on the door.

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by superflysocal

I currently drive an iX and love the convenience of never having to get gas.

For the next car in the household, we usually would get an ICE car to replace the current ice car because the state we live in doesn't have the full infrastruture to support convenient road trips with BEV car.

I was thinking of going with an X5 PHEV instead of a gas only car. With the way we drive and distance to work and most places, we could literally charge the car every night and probably not ever need gas except on very rare days and road trips.

My concern is how bad it would be for the gas engine if it is literally hardly driven (leave on EV mode)? Will the gas or oil in the car go bad? Does car manufacturers recommend the gas engine gets turned on ever so often?

short answer: don’t treat it like a full EV. know it has an engine, so one should exercise due diligence to use it periodically.

that said, BMW PHEVs don’t have a program that automatically cycles the engine after xx period of time has elapsed for not using the engine or fuel like other manufacturers may, but I’ve also gone 7 straight months without using the engine which fired up immediately without any performance issues. I did put fuel stabilizer at the time but don’t anymore as road trips are more frequent now.

jad03060 already addressed the sealed fuel tank

[White340]

Just filled up the tank two weeks ago after driving 3000 miles since October. Gas usage was about 240 miles during that time.

Since then we went skiing driving around 400 mile total. It nice to have the bet of both worlds.

[superflysocal]

Wow, I was not expecting such amazing responses. Looks like BMW really got this down pretty well!

[Georgetheowl]

we are doing sth similar but opposite, an i4 for single person city short drives/errands, and X5e for family short and long trips. Can't even remember last time I fueled up...