BMW I3 WALLPARERS: July 2010

Saturday, July 31, 2010

130.1 Miles on a Single Charge

After hitting "----"miles left at the 120 mile mark, I was able to push 9 more miles out of the battery pack before I got the warning icon that means you are just about done!

Today was a perfect day, 75 degrees and clear. I had gone for a short drive with my wife in the morning, then I drove to work. When I got there I realized I had to run some errands so I did and as I was driving back to work I looked down at the range meter and saw that I had already driven 96 miles and had 18% SOC left which is unusually high. The driving conditions were perfect, the temperature wasn't hot enough to need A/C and I had driven about 90% of the 96 miles off the highway at speeds under 45mph. These are the perfect conditions for driving electric and the range was the proof.

Since I wasn't in a rush to get back to work I figured I'd continue to drive and see how far I could go without needing to plug back in. I drove an 8 mile loop around the restaurant a few times before I reached 120 miles which is when the range meter finally displayed "----" which means zero.

I continued to forge on, driving about 35mph until I got to 129 miles which is when a large battery icon appeared. This is your final warning in the MINI-E. This means "Get to where you are going ASAP because you're about to shut down" Only a few MINI-E pioneers that I know of have even seen this icon as they dare not push the car to the point of needing to be towed. The car goes into reduced power mode at this point and you can only go about 25mph which was fine because I was only about one mile from Nauna's and the speed limit on this residential street is 25mph. I'm not sure how far it will go in this mode but I don't think it's much further than a couple miles.

This was a new record single-charge distance for me, besting my previous 128 miles. I have heard or some other MINI-E pioneers getting into the 140's on a few occasions and I do believe it's possible. If I drove the car all day with the intention of saving the battery and going as far as possible, I bet I could have gotten at least another 10 miles out of it. I did drive about 12 miles on the highway, going 65-70mph and I'm sure that cut some miles off my total, and I really didn't try to conserve energy until I realized I was going to try to push it at 96 miles.

I keep saying that one day I'm going to set out with the intention of driving the car the most miles I ever have on a single charge. I'm sure I can beat 130 if I keep my speed down and the outside temperature is right like it was today. But for now, 130.1 will have to stand for MINI-E #250's personal best.