WDC's Practical Car Perseveration

[robg]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

Weekend update:

Drove the ex’s Tesla Y. Very impressive. Great power and very decent handling. And that’s without the performance upgrade that’s just now available. She has the long range version.

Also drove the X3 and X5 hybrids.

The X5 is a winner (although too much car and $$ for me). And, wow, have those gone upscale—fancy, schmancy. Groovy iDrive screen—very nice integration with the dash..

The X3 is much more akin to our E70 X5 in size, feel, and appointments. I quite liked it and felt very at home in it. The power is fine, even fun. No telling what a slug it would feel like, though, when driving on the highway without electric assist. Then it’s 4,000 pounds and 180 hp/4 cylinders...

The raised cargo floor is a bit of a hack. But livable, I guess.

The only disconcerting thing was its brakes. Almost a little frighting. Long stopping distance and pretty mushy.

This example did not have the MSport brakes, which are part of the dynamic handling package. I would have to hope that solves the problem.

I could see the X3 hybrid being my future vehicle. It’s pretty ideal for my use case—mostly short jaunts around town on electric power, plus the occasional longer haul where I need more carrying capacity (4.5-hour beach trip to Hilton Head, or a couple of hours up to the mountains with dogs and kid plus a pal or two.)

Not sure of the exact details, but I believe most plug-in hybrids reserve some battery for doing quick passes on the highway, hard acceleration, etc. Maintaining a steady-state speed on the highway doesnt require much power so the gas engine should be plenty for that. I think the downside is more in the reduced fuel economy you get in gas only mode due to the higher weight.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by robg

Not sure of the exact details, but I believe most plug-in hybrids reserve some battery for doing quick passes on the highway, hard acceleration, etc. Maintaining a steady-state speed on the highway doesnt require much power so the gas engine should be plenty for that. I think the downside is more in the reduced fuel economy you get in gas only mode due to the higher weight.

Yes. It weighs about 500 more pounds than a regular X3...

Reading more threads about actual use (especially from European drivers with experience in this car and other hybrids), the tech works pretty well to get you the power you need on the highway. Especially, if you use the trip computer to plan battery use. And you're right about the battery preservation.

Next July is the scheduled LCI, when the X3 will get the real, fully integrated iDrive 7, and some other tweaks. I'm wondering if they will also do better by the battery at that point. It might make sense to hold on until then, or until more information comes out.

The danger, of course, is that the front grille gets bigger!

[Josh (PA)]

what's the price difference between the x3 hybrid and the b58 version?
Do the batteries recharge via regenerative energy capture (ie engine braking, or other means) for any of the BMW hybrids?

July is a long time away, although the details may leak out a bit earlier.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by Josh (PA)

what's the price difference between the x3 hybrid and the b58 version?
Do the batteries recharge via regenerative energy capture (ie engine braking, or other means) for any of the BMW hybrids?

July is a long time away, although the details may leak out a bit earlier.

The MSRP delta between what I would spec in the hybrid versus the B58 is less than $3,000--but that is before the tax credit of $5,600 or so, plus the ongoing gas savings.

($64,675 versus $67,075)

One thing I hate about the B58 spec is they force you into the performance run-flats if you want the sport differential. So that would mean another $1,500-$2,000 for all seasons...So, net difference may top $10k.

And yes, apparently there is some regenerative braking charging, but somewhere I read that that consumes more battery than it creates? (May have been something about a hilly trip...)

[equ]

I'll just leave this here:

https://jalopnik.com/brand-new-tesla...ive-1845275335

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by equ

I'll just leave this here:

https://jalopnik.com/brand-new-tesla...ive-1845275335

OMG.

[equ]

Of course, prefaced with all things Tesla make the news... There have been been plenty of german sunroofs that exploded randomly. Etc. etc. An anecdote doesn't make a statistic.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by equ

Of course, prefaced with all things Tesla make the news... There have been been plenty of german sunroofs that exploded randomly. Etc. etc. An anecdote doesn't make a statistic.

Indeed. I remember BMWs spate of exploding sunroofs...

[equ]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

And yes, apparently there is some regenerative braking charging, but somewhere I read that that consumes more battery than it creates? (May have been something about a hilly trip...)

Even my 2011 535i had regenerative alternator operation (not direct power regeneration off the brakes but still a step).

[lemming]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

You have more faith in the grid than I do...

I like the Swiss Army Knife nature of the plug-in hybrid.

I concur. I will probably go with the wrangler 4xe though.