That is very helpful. Thank you, as I am planning to pick up my IX50 in June in Idaho Falls and dive him 2000 miles through the country back home. I try to plan well.
That is very helpful. Thank you, as I am planning to pick up my IX50 in June in Idaho Falls and dive him 2000 miles through the country back home. I try to plan well.This is how it looks for us in the UK and I expect the EU - USA may be different but gives you an idea what to expect
I thought I'd set a long trip into Europe, it takes a while to suggest a charging route and if you accept this it drops in charging stations (car range was 240 miles when I did this on my50)
To view them iDrive knob right and move up to Current route guidance where you can see the selected charging stations and get fuirther info on them (facilities etc.)
the charging times seem to reflect the available kW
Drivers that might have driven to Munich in the old days would probably head through Belgium to hit the German border to take advantage of the no speed limit Autobahns but I like this route French toll roads are great nobody on them as they cost a fortune
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We've just completed a road trip from the UK (near Oxford) to Alpbach in Austria and back for a week skiing in our iX50. Yes, the iX in car route planner does recommend charging routes, however in parallel, we used the abetterrouteplanner.com (ABRP) website and app. I have to say I preferred ABRP.This is how it looks for us in the UK and I expect the EU - USA may be different but gives you an idea what to expect
I thought I'd set a long trip into Europe, it takes a while to suggest a charging route and if you accept this it drops in charging stations (car range was 240 miles when I did this on my50)
To view them iDrive knob right and move up to Current route guidance where you can see the selected charging stations and get fuirther info on them (facilities etc.)
the charging times seem to reflect the available kW
Drivers that might have driven to Munich in the old days would probably head through Belgium to hit the German border to take advantage of the no speed limit Autobahns but I like this route French toll roads are great nobody on them as they cost a fortune
View attachment 1575 View attachment 1576 View attachment 1578
Thats great feedback - did you add the actual chargers into the BMW navigation so it should precondition the battery for charging, was there any indication of battery preconditioning?We've just completed a road trip from the UK (near Oxford) to Alpbach in Austria and back for a week skiing in our iX50. Yes, the iX in car route planner does recommend charging routes, however in parallel, we used the abetterrouteplanner.com (ABRP) website and app. I have to say I preferred ABRP.
The big advantage of the ABRP is that you can prioritise a charger network. In the UK a new BMW iX50 comes with 12 months Ionity & BP Pulse subscriptions. The Ionity network is superb. The chargers all work, they are incredibly fast (350kwh DC although the iX50 can 'only' handle 200kwh DC) and, with the BMW / Ionity subscription, it's about as cheap per kWh as it gets. The iX Sat Nav, however, recommends the nearest en-route fast chargers, as long as they accept the BMW Chargecard /app for payment. This often includes the Ionity chargers, but several times en-route the iX Sat Nav recommended other charging networks, even though there was an alternative Ionity charger within range. The difference in price was huge. We paid €0.29 per kWh for the Ionity chargers en-route and yet the other iX route selected chargers were at lease €0.78 per kWh (2.6 times the price).
Have a play on the abetterrouteplanner website. I’m pretty sure it does route planning in North America and there are beta settings for the iX40 & iX50.Really enjoyed reading this. As an EV newbee I am learning a lot from this and get some confidence that these kind of trips are doable. The majority of people surrounding me here declare me as very naive I guess, as I plan a 2000 mile trip through the US in the IX50. There is a lot of resistance against e mobility either because they love their 8 cylinder ICE and/or declare climate change as a hoax anyway and/or electricity is made from coal and/or batteries can not be recycled. But mostly the mindset 'it can not be true, what I don't want to be true'. My car says 'production begins' already for a week now. Hopefully it will be here in June. Can't wait.
Thanks. Yes, I added the chargers to the BMW sat nav & worked from there. I’ve no idea whether the iX preconditions the battery ready for charge. I’ve not seen anything about that, but am aware that the Tesla’s do that with their route planner. I’d be intrigued whether the iX preconditions ready for fast charging.Thats great feedback - did you add the actual chargers into the BMW navigation so it should precondition the battery for charging, was there any indication of battery preconditioning?
I'm finding the iX not to be very communicative
Did you do that by adding a waypoint for those chargers or is there a special function in the Sat Nav to add charge stops?Yes, I added the chargers to the BMW sat nav & worked from there
From a press release last yearThanks. Yes, I added the chargers to the BMW sat nav & worked from there. I’ve no idea whether the iX preconditions the battery ready for charge. I’ve not seen anything about that, but am aware that the Tesla’s do that with their route planner. I’d be intrigued whether the iX preconditions ready for fast charging.
No, I searched manually and added them as intermin destinations. In the iX Sat Nav I searched for IONITY & the name of the nearest town. The Sat Nav seemed to find them.Did you do that by adding a waypoint for those chargers or is there a special function in the Sat Nav to add charge stops?
It does see them as chargers when I've tried it so hopefully it will pre-condition the battery I suppose if you get a high charge rate it would indicate its done itThat is super interesting. I wonder if it recognises them as chargers and pre-conditions the battery or if it just thinks of it as a stop. Either way, great post.
Oh fab - that makes sense, thanks.From a press release last year
The integrated heating and cooling system also ensures optimal
temperature control for the high-voltage battery in highly dynamic
driving situations with high power requirements and when rapidcharging
from a DC charging station. If the navigation system’s route
guidance function is active and has scheduled a mid-journey stop for the
BMW iX at a fast-charging station, anticipatory thermal management
will automatically pre-condition the battery beforehand. Warming up the
high-voltage battery or cooling it down as appropriate means it will be
at the optimum temperature for quick and efficient charging at maximum
capacity upon arrival at the charging station. Thermal management
takes a number of factors into account here, including current battery
temperature, remaining range, the predicted charging rate and the
amount of charging planned as part of the overall route calculation
We’ve had a couple of BMW X5s over the recent years, before upgrading to the iX and my other car is an Aston Martin Vantage, so I get the petrolhead mentality. Since getting the iX in late December, I’ve only taken the Aston Martin out a couple of times. The iX50 is an amazing car. It’ll never beat the Vantage on good looks, the sound track or spirited driving fun, but it’s telling that I go for the iX keys most often these days!Really enjoyed reading this. As an EV newbee I am learning a lot from this and get some confidence that these kind of trips are doable. The majority of people surrounding me here declare me as very naive I guess, as I plan a 2000 mile trip through the US in the IX50. There is a lot of resistance against e mobility either because they love their 8 cylinder ICE and/or declare climate change as a hoax anyway and/or electricity is made from coal and/or batteries can not be recycled. But mostly the mindset 'it can not be true, what I don't want to be true'. My car says 'production begins' already for a week now. Hopefully it will be here in June. Can't wait.
What I noticed is the long charging times proposed by the iX and confirmed by my colleagues driving a iX3. If you use a better route planner, the charging times are shorter and the vehicle is charged up to 50 to 70% of his battery capacity (to gain charge speed as it drops fast above 60%). The number of stops are increasing of course.This is how it looks for us in the UK and I expect the EU - USA may be different but gives you an idea what to expect
I thought I'd set a long trip into Europe, it takes a while to suggest a charging route and if you accept this it drops in charging stations (car range was 240 miles when I did this on my50)
To view them iDrive knob right and move up to Current route guidance where you can see the selected charging stations and get fuirther info on them (facilities etc.)
the charging times seem to reflect the available kW
Drivers that might have driven to Munich in the old days would probably head through Belgium to hit the German border to take advantage of the no speed limit Autobahns but I like this route French toll roads are great nobody on them as they cost a fortune
View attachment 1575 View attachment 1576 View attachment 1578
In the ABRP app you can choose your your preferred charging strategy in the preferences with a slider that goes between ‘fewer stops’ via ‘quickest arrival’ to ‘shorter legs’. Quickest arrival was the option we went for on our trip. The algorithm seemed to work well, if a little conservative.What I noticed is the long charging times proposed by the iX and confirmed by my colleagues driving a iX3. If you use a better route planner, the charging times are shorter and the vehicle is charged up to 50 to 70% of his battery capacity (to gain charge speed as it drops fast above 60%). The number of stops are
increasing of course.
To what % is the navigation system is estimating the charge at each charging point?