[PREDATOR 007]

Just picked up my 21'' x5 45e and leaving on a 1,000 trip on Wednesday. What Mode should I be in?? Sport, Hybrid, Adaptive, or Battery Hold?

What mode is best for fuel economy on highway driving?
What mode is best for battery conservation/charge on highway driving?

Thanks in advance and I will post pictures shortly!

[Spencer518]

Originally Posted by PREDATOR 007

Just picked up my 21'' x5 45e and leaving on a 1,000 trip on Wednesday. What Mode should I be in?? Sport, Hybrid, Adaptive, or Battery Hold?

What mode is best for fuel economy on highway driving?
What mode is best for battery conservation/charge on highway driving?

Thanks in advance and I will post pictures shortly!

Hybrid Eco Pro will deliver the best fuel economy if you use the navigation system.

Sport will give you the worst economy, as the engine will rev higher before shifting gears.

Battery Hold is the only mode that actively charges the battery. But it does this by using a lot of gas. Better off to plug in to recharge

[jad03060]

Depending on if and when you can recharge, if you use adaptive mode and set in a destination in the nav, the computer will apportion out the battery use so you're close to discharged when you arrive, if the trip is long enough. The nav knows the terrain in addition to the speed limits, so will know when there's a hill or mountain that has to be crossed where battery assist will be useful, and when it could be recharged by regeneration going back down. I don't think that will happen if you're using say Carplay, and a different nav than the built-in one, though.

Once you run out of battery, the X5 45e is a heavy beast, and acceleration will eat up fuel if you've got a heavy foot. The use of the adaptive cruise control will help keep your speed steadier, and that means less speed variation, which normally will provide a more economical trip.

It will help if you can recharge say overnight or during a stopover if the price isn't outlandish.

[PREDATOR 007]

Originally Posted by jad03060

Depending on if and when you can recharge, if you use adaptive mode and set in a destination in the nav, the computer will apportion out the battery use so you're close to discharged when you arrive, if the trip is long enough. The nav knows the terrain in addition to the speed limits, so will know when there's a hill or mountain that has to be crossed where battery assist will be useful, and when it could be recharged by regeneration going back down. I don't think that will happen if you're using say Carplay, and a different nav than the built-in one, though.

Once you run out of battery, the X5 45e is a heavy beast, and acceleration will eat up fuel if you've got a heavy foot. The use of the adaptive cruise control will help keep your speed steadier, and that means less speed variation, which normally will provide a more economical trip.

It will help if you can recharge say overnight or during a stopover if the price isn't outlandish.

I'm planning on driving straight through, so this will be about a 14 hour trip.

[X5 45e]

For long holidays trips I put in adaptive. The steering and suspension adapts to the drive style and road.

In Germany I put it in sport.

Hybrid eco pro gives best economics but the difference with adaptive is not huge and I prefer driving in adaptive.

Battery hold is only when you need battery on arrival. For example to pre heat the next day and charging is not possible. Or if you want to do a specific part of a large trip in all electric (city centre?)

[X5 45e]

Originally Posted by jad03060

Depending on if and when you can recharge, if you use adaptive mode and set in a destination in the nav, the computer will apportion out the battery use so you're close to discharged when you arrive, if the trip is long enough. The nav knows the terrain in addition to the speed limits, so will know when there's a hill or mountain that has to be crossed where battery assist will be useful, and when it could be recharged by regeneration going back down. I don't think that will happen if you're using say Carplay, and a different nav than the built-in one, though.

Once you run out of battery, the X5 45e is a heavy beast, and acceleration will eat up fuel if you've got a heavy foot. The use of the adaptive cruise control will help keep your speed steadier, and that means less speed variation, which normally will provide a more economical trip.

It will help if you can recharge say overnight or during a stopover if the price isn't outlandish.

It does that in all modes except sport.

[X5 45e]

This is how adaptive recuperation works. In Europe it is only in hybrid eco pro in US in all modes except sport. It is available in sport individual with the engine mode in comfort.

[kebiN]

The usual behavior with hybrid mode regardless of the destination is electric mode if speed < 90-110km/h or full acceleration is not needed.
Above that speed even when I enter close destinations it switches to ICE, and ends the trip with electric juice available. Typically highway trips use always ICE.
So for distances above the real autonomy (for me 60km), for example for a 80-130km highway trip what works best for me is manually change from electric to ICE as needed: if i need acceleration or power at any moment just push the shifter to the left a go for it. Then after stable speed switch back the shifter to the right and back to electric even as 140km/h and use all the juice even in the highway parts.
For trips longer than that maybe eco pro, but i hate the unpredictable regenerative braking (sometimes a lot, sometimes zero), so I use hybrid or adaptative.

[PREDATOR 007]

Drove a little over 1,000 miles last Wednesday on the highway. Probably ran in Hybrid Standard most of the way. I started off in eco pro and kept the speed at about 70. Averaged higher 30’s. Later in the day I bumped my speed to 75-80 and was averaging around 25.

For recharging the battery while driving, I did notice that I got a faster recharge by putting into battery hold rather than sport mode. Mileage really drops in battery hold so it’s probably better to just wait till you can charge again. The place we are staying does not have charging stations. I ran by the dealer the other day and plugged in for a couple hours but that’s not practical.

[X5 45e]

Originally Posted by PREDATOR 007

Drove a little over 1,000 miles last Wednesday on the highway. Probably ran in Hybrid Standard most of the way. I started off in eco pro and kept the speed at about 70. Averaged higher 30’s. Later in the day I bumped my speed to 75-80 and was averaging around 25.

For recharging the battery while driving, I did notice that I got a faster recharge by putting into battery hold rather than sport mode. Mileage really drops in battery hold so it’s probably better to just wait till you can charge again. The place we are staying does not have charging stations. I ran by the dealer the other day and plugged in for a couple hours but that’s not practical.

In sport mode in charges the battery to 17-20% in battery hold to the chosen level. It is faster in BH mode indeed because it will charge as much as possible once it is activated. Charging speed decreases with higher (autobahn) speeds.

[evodz]

Originally Posted by PREDATOR 007

Drove a little over 1,000 miles last Wednesday on the highway. Probably ran in Hybrid Standard most of the way. I started off in eco pro and kept the speed at about 70. Averaged higher 30’s. Later in the day I bumped my speed to 75-80 and was averaging around 25.

For recharging the battery while driving, I did notice that I got a faster recharge by putting into battery hold rather than sport mode. Mileage really drops in battery hold so it’s probably better to just wait till you can charge again. The place we are staying does not have charging stations. I ran by the dealer the other day and plugged in for a couple hours but that’s not practical.

During your 1,000 mile drive in hybrid mode, how many miles before the charge ran out would you say?

[PREDATOR 007]

Originally Posted by evodz

During your 1,000 mile drive in hybrid mode, how many miles before the charge ran out would you say?

I never really ran completely out. At the end, I probably had 2-3 miles left. The engine recharges when coasting, down hill and braking.

[evodz]

Thanks for sharing!

[Needsdecaf]

Originally Posted by X5 45e

This is how adaptive recuperation works. In Europe it is only in hybrid eco pro in US in all modes except sport. It is available in sport individual with the engine mode in comfort.

This seems like it would make the liftoff behavior inconsistent. Does it feel that way in practice?

[Jebryan]

Trying to peruse through all of the prior data and want to make sure I'm understanding my new 45e correctly before I embark on a long road trip for the holidays.

Hybrid - Hybrid & electric both used as applicable for best all-around energy efficiency.
Hybrid Eco Pro - will 'coast' more than Hybrid, when applicable, to make the most efficient use of energy instead of a 'heavier' regen process to give you the best fuel economy.
Adaptive- TurtleBoy had a post mentioning this mode factors in much more than hybrid such as turn signals, hills, GPS route, pedal position etc.

I believe regen will happen in all modes above, as will the GPS being taken into consideration in all modes above as long as you have the destination assistance mode (or whatever it's called) in the iDrive enabled. Am I missing anything?

Ultimately, what is the group consensus on the best mode for long road trips? Definitely elevation changes on my route, as I'm driving up 77 through VA and the mountains of WV before flattening out in Ohio.

[jad03060]

If you want to ensure you have enough battery capacity to precondition or hold the cabin temp comfortable on a stop, I use battery hold at the minimum. If you turn that on prior to reaching that value, there's little mpg penalty. It's when you need to recharge the battery that that extra load has an impact. Using that on a 2000-mile trip, I averaged about 28mpg with a full load, nearing max GVW, and stopping for fuel as needed. I've programmed my vehicle to default to adaptive on startup versus comfort mode.

[Jebryan]

Originally Posted by jad03060

If you want to ensure you have enough battery capacity to precondition or hold the cabin temp comfortable on a stop, I use battery hold at the minimum. If you turn that on prior to reaching that value, there's little mpg penalty. It's when you need to recharge the battery that that extra load has an impact. Using that on a 2000-mile trip, I averaged about 28mpg with a full load, nearing max GVW, and stopping for fuel as needed. I've programmed my vehicle to default to adaptive on startup versus comfort mode.

Thanks!

Not concerned about battery hold or ability to precondition for this specific route because the hotel we’re stopping at has free chargers. It’s my understanding I don’t really need to worry about the battery level & HVAC because when the battery does deplete, the ICE kicks on and it’ll always give enough juice to the HVB to keep the HVAC running?

Assuming I don’t need battery hold, you recommend adaptive over hybrid or hybrid eco pro?

[jad03060]

As long as you have gas, you'll be able to continue without any difficulties. An echo mode might save some fuel so you could try that and see if you like it. It will likely be fine while in cruise but you may not like it in other driving situations. I have mine set to adaptive mode as the default, and it works for me. You could try different modes along the way to see what works best for you. Adaptive anticipates your 'needs' better than some of the other modes rather than reacting to changes, adaptive might change before it may be required like recognizing you're on an entrance ramp and want more power, or that a hill is coming up and may shut off on a longer downhill.

[ozone96]

My experience is the Hybrid Eco Pro does not regenerate if you let go of the gas pedal for coasting but Hybrid Standard does. Doesn't that mean that the kinetic energy is wasted while coasting and Hybrid Standard is more efficient?

[jad03060]

Originally Posted by ozone96

My experience is the Hybrid Eco Pro does not regenerate if you let go of the gas pedal for coasting but Hybrid Standard does. Doesn't that mean that the kinetic energy is wasted while coasting and Hybrid Standard is more efficient?

There may be times when you don't want to actually slow down, so literally just coasting along without using power or slowing down could be more efficient. In stop and go, it probably isn't more efficient as lots of the power used comes from accelerating, but in stop and go, it's nice to get some of that power back for the next time you can move ahead. The computer can make good sense of this, so just hybrid might be the easiest, but there are situations where the eco mode can help.

[lake_eleven]

My drive on Battery Control always seems a bit rough, not as smooth as hybrid or solid as in sport mode, something inbetween but noisy!. Don't know if others have same experience.

[jad03060]

Originally Posted by lake_eleven

My drive on Battery Control always seems a bit rough, not as smooth as hybrid or solid as in sport mode, something inbetween but noisy!. Don't know if others have same experience.

If your battery level drops below the set point, when you engage it you're putting a fair load on the engine to try to bring the charge back up. When running in electric, turning on battery control usually turns the ICE on, and always will when the charge is lower.