I7 Owners' Real World Mileage and Range

[drbluedevil]

Originally Posted by AllIn216

Back in this shop with what seems to be an air strut issue, and I was offered an I7 loaner again this week. I took the I7 this time, knowing I would just be doing my normal local-ish commute. It's very nice, and drives very smooth. The car feels extraordinarily heavy, but the ride is fabulous. And I found pretty much everything you guys mentioned here to be true, so thanks again for all the great advice and sharing your experiences!

The range seems to definitely be workable for my "normal" days. A normal day's driving used up about 50%-60%, which probably leaves just enough buffer for other stuff or winter weather losses. The dash indicated that I averaged 3.2 mi/kwh, or 31.25 kwh per 100 miles, which was significantly better than the window sticker indicated (41.0 kwh/100mi).

Charging was....a learning experience to say the least. Not owning an EV, I'm not currently set up with a level II charger in the garage. I was excited though, because I have an open 240V plug for an air compressor that I got rid of; unfortunately that excitement was short-lived because of a different plug configuration. So for the 1st night, I plugged in with the included 120V unit. That added a whopping 5% charge in just over 13 hours! LOL. Not knowing how long the shop will have my car, I then proceeded to panic knowing I probably needed at least the 55% charge I had for the day, and later detoured to find a compatible public fast charging station. While I waiting/charging, it dawned on my that the 240V plug that BMW includes as standard is actually common to electric ovens...which oddly enough I have in a finished are of my "garage." So I was able to finish charging at home, pulling out the oven and plugging in there. Days like these, I could totally charge at home overnight on 240V. The Ionna public charger's cost $/kwh was right around 4x my all-in standard residential rate at home!

Overall I liked the car a lot. I still don't see how it objectively makes sense for my use case, but having a few days experience living with an EV (an exceptionally nice one at that) satisfies my curiosity. I feel better now seeing firsthand what it would take to make the I7 work and what kind of concessions/changes I'd need to be willing to make.

The venn diagram circles of "people driving an i7" and "people with an oven in their garage" intersect at exactly one person, and we've found him.

[BM8888]

I've been getting around 330 miles at 100%, but now lately i'm getting around 280 miles at 100%. Most likely it's due to my tires being worn already at 15k miles. (anyone else has this problem? these manufactures tend to put low thread tires on new BMWs/Mercedes EVs, that tires don't last much at all).

[BMW5and7]

Originally Posted by BM8888

I've been getting around 330 miles at 100%, but now lately i'm getting around 280 miles at 100%. Most likely it's due to my tires being worn already at 15k miles. (anyone else has this problem? these manufactures tend to put low thread tires on new BMWs/Mercedes EVs, that tires don't last much at all).

15-20K miles is exactly what I’d expect from heavy sedans like the G70, at most.

How was your charging strategy? Charging the battery to 100% every day will degrade the battery much faster, than charging it to 100% only when needed for long-trips, and close to 60-80% limit when possible for daily trips. Also how often do you super-charge?

Last question: has the temperature changed since your 330 miles range estimate dropped to 280? The i7 calculated range adjusts itself based on local temperatures to get you accurate range, and it also dynamically adjusts based on your driving behavior (just like the MPG in ICE cars impacting your full tank capacity range estimate).

My i7 is still showing 100-105% of it’s claimed EPA mileage today, but it’s always charged to 50-60% daily/over-night as the max threshold, unless am going for a road-trip that needs the entire range. I did that for my Tesla too in the past, and maintained 0% degradation even after 15K miles