[stubbsy74]

Originally Posted by ted8715

Maybe this will help:
Today I was driving to work in Auto eDrive and Eco Pro. Had driven on battery the whole way so far... Probably annoyed a few drivers accelerating slowly to not kick in the ICE (I know BMW drivers have a reputation and slow isn't one of them. Maybe I can give us a new impression )The Nav was set to Fastest Route. Halfway through my drive I switched the Nav route preference to EcoPro and the ICE fired right up as I was on the highway going about 60mph. I had plenty of battery range left. It must have thought the ICE was more efficient for the highway and it wanted to save the battery for slower off highway driving in traffic later on my route.

Thanks Ted, yeah maybe, it just seems a little strange to me that surely in efficiency terms it would always pick the inner city route (about 1mile longer) over the motorway as electric is way cheaper p/m than petrol (in the UK)? However just to throw a spanner in the works the motorway section i use is a 50mph zone so therefore fully capable of driving it in electric mode???

[ted8715]

Originally Posted by stubbsy74

Thanks Ted, yeah maybe, it just seems a little strange to me that surely in efficiency terms it would always pick the inner city route (about 1mile longer) over the motorway as electric is way cheaper p/m than petrol (in the UK)? However just to throw a spanner in the works the motorway section i use is a 50mph zone so therefore fully capable of driving it in electric mode???

I think I figured it out. For my drive home, before leaving, I set the nav for my home and then found under routes an alternate route option. It gave two choices, "Fastest" and "EcoPro". The "EcoPro" route had me turn north two blocks earlier than the "fastest" route, which is the way I'd normally go. This allowed my to drive on a nearly flat road on electric power alone (my electric range was even reading zero at the time). Then when I turned to go up the hill to my house the ICE kicked in and stayed on until I pulled in the driveway. Pretty clever. I know from driving the "fastest" route lots of times that the road has a slight incline the entire length of it before I turn onto the road with a steep hill.

Hopefully that made some sense.

In summary, the car must be taking into account multiple factors including distance to get to destination, topography, speed limits, road characteristics like city street vs highway, and the current state of battery to calculate the route and then select the appropriate mode for the powertrain. I had a smile on my face the whole time watching it work, this German engineering is amazing!

[stubbsy74]

Originally Posted by ted8715

I think I figured it out. For my drive home, before leaving, I set the nav for my home and then found under routes an alternate route option. It gave two choices, "Fastest" and "EcoPro". The "EcoPro" route had me turn north two blocks earlier than the "fastest" route, which is the way I'd normally go. This allowed my to drive on a nearly flat road on electric power alone (my electric range was even reading zero at the time). Then when I turned to go up the hill to my house the ICE kicked in and stayed on until I pulled in the driveway. Pretty clever. I know from driving the "fastest" route lots of times that the road has a slight incline the entire length of it before I turn onto the road with a steep hill.

Hopefully that made some sense.

In summary, the car must be taking into account multiple factors including distance to get to destination, topography, speed limits, road characteristics like city street vs highway, and the current state of battery to calculate the route and then select the appropriate mode for the powertrain. I had a smile on my face the whole time watching it work, this German engineering is amazing!

Wow that sounds immense I'm soon excited, shame my bloody delivery wait seems like an age away.

Another one for anyone. I know the 3 pin charge lead comes with the car (in the UK) but say for instance if i went to my friends house and 'nicked' a bit of electric, can i plug it in using an extension cable? If so does it have to be a certain type? Ive found an all weather one but its only 13amp and I'm sure i saw somewhere on this site that someone said you would need a 24amp one(if that even exists).

[stubbsy74]

Originally Posted by ted8715

I think I figured it out. For my drive home, before leaving, I set the nav for my home and then found under routes an alternate route option. It gave two choices, "Fastest" and "EcoPro". The "EcoPro" route had me turn north two blocks earlier than the "fastest" route, which is the way I'd normally go. This allowed my to drive on a nearly flat road on electric power alone (my electric range was even reading zero at the time). Then when I turned to go up the hill to my house the ICE kicked in and stayed on until I pulled in the driveway. Pretty clever. I know from driving the "fastest" route lots of times that the road has a slight incline the entire length of it before I turn onto the road with a steep hill.

Hopefully that made some sense.

In summary, the car must be taking into account multiple factors including distance to get to destination, topography, speed limits, road characteristics like city street vs highway, and the current state of battery to calculate the route and then select the appropriate mode for the powertrain. I had a smile on my face the whole time watching it work, this German engineering is amazing!

Right i know i'm going to sound like an idiot, but everyone keeps going on about ICE. What does it mean???

[finewayne]

performance on top..

[Lancelot]

Originally Posted by stubbsy74

Right i know i'm going to sound like an idiot, but everyone keeps going on about ICE. What does it mean???

Internal Combustion Engine I think. As opposed to the electric engine.

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by Mr iPerformance

No, since I want to arrive in style

Heh, naah, not really. I did try the VW Golf GTE/Audi A3 e-tron, but found them a bit clunky. The engine felt a bit small and chassis wasn't as well sorted out as in the 3 series. Although the interior was put together really well, the 3 series interior felt a lot more luxurious. And iDrive Pro is soooooo nice these days.

The 3 series was an obvious choice for me after test driving the car. It just feels so much better to drive than any of its competitors. And when you step out of one, especially an M Sport, people know you have style.

I also considered the e-tron before purchasing the 330e. But in addition to the points made in this post, all good ones by the way, I just have a problem right now purchasing any car made by the VW group after the defeat trick the company played on the air I breathe.

[jacar]

I had an AH3 for 3 years, great car. I'm waiting for the first 330e to drive at the dealer.

[35mphgolf]

Mr iPerformance - thanks for taking the time to make the videos and do the comparisons! Have you done any extended travel with the save battery function or any other combination of e-drive functions? I'm talking 480 - 650km (~300-400mi) drives?

[offshore171]

Originally Posted by 35mphgolf

Mr iPerformance - thanks for taking the time to make the videos and do the comparisons!

I second this. Thanks iPerformance for the great info and informative videos in this thread. Helsinki streets looked familiar as I was posted there for work a while back. Nice city!

Anyway, I'm a first time poster here and your great videos helped me on the decision to go for the 330e.

In Australia, the 330e is only about $1500 more than the 330i, so if it suits your driving pattern it's a no brainer.

I went for an M Sport in Estoril, with most of the options.

The dealer supplied it with a full tank of petrol and we've now put about 1000km on it since new, and have not yet put fuel in it! And the tank is still about half full. At this rate, it will visit the Petrol Station about once every 3 months.

It gets charged nightly using off-peak power. This works out at about $2 per 100km of travel.

Once again thanks for the great contribution.

[Kabrich]

Originally Posted by jacar

I had an AH3 for 3 years, great car. I'm waiting for the first 330e to drive at the dealer.

You will not be impressed.

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by hoyasaxa

That's pretty terrible. Driving extremely reasonably he achieved only 68.5% of BMW's claimed range. Not awesome.

I have had my 330e for a couple of months now.

Driving locally for errands in pure electric mode I have been able to get just about the listed 16 miles of range (I got less the first month when Arizona was in the middle of the summer heat period and I had to blast the AC).

Last week I did a 120 mile (each way) round trip that was almost all highway driving with the ACC set at 84 MPH. I got 35 mpg on that trip without using the electric drive by itself. I am sure it would have been a lot better if I were driving slower.

In both instances I drive in sport mode.

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by rodness

Am I reading this right? Did you drive all of 17 miles on a charge?? If that's correct, how is this car just not utterly worthless?

I mean, ok so I get crap mileage in my 335i because now I work at home and largely just run the kids to school and go to the grocery store, but still I'm getting 150+ to a tank. With a 17mi range I wouldn't even want to get on the freeway.

I work mostly from home so my driving is mostly local with an occasional highway commute (20 miles), occasional trip and occasional slightly longer local trip (e.g., to a golf course). I am currently at 462 miles on a tank of gas with one quarter of the tank left (10.8 gallon tank). I drive in sport mode and mostly use the electric mode for the purely local driving. And I tend to drive very fast as well and I am in the Phoenix area where the temperature can rise rapidly (although it has been cool the last week or so).

So...yes...the electric only range is limited to only 16 miles or less. But it also works as a regular hybrid and as you can see my range is considerable. If someone was a regular long range commuter the mileage would certainly be much reduced.

I bought the car to try to have a performance vehicle that will also be good for the urban environment and also retain my grandfathered rights to drive in the car pool lane (grandfathered from my two previous Prius vehicles). I think the 330e meets most of these objectives (although I would have preferred a 2 series phev if they had one). I think this vehicle meets those goals.

BTW...the MB C350e is not currently being sold in the US and if it will be sold, will apparently only be sold in several zero emission states. Based on the reviews I have read it is more expensive and performs less ell although the interior is nicer and it is marginally faster in a straightaway.