EV general discussion

[JonRGV250]

HOw are people finding their EVs coping with this cold snap?

Perfectly, although I've gone through a fair chunk of the battery in a couple of days with everything that can be hot, hot.
The best thing bar preheating or whatever it's called, is having my own fuel station at home, so no faffing with standing in the cold at a petrol station in the morning.
I guess the only downside is the dick attitude from some EV drivers to others who decide EV ownership isn't for them.
Some on here sound like turbo charged vegan's with their nonsense, but hopefully they'll grow out of it sooner or later.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Perfectly, although I've gone through a fair chunk of the battery in a couple of days with everything that can be hot, hot.
The best thing bar preheating or whatever it's called, is having my own fuel station at home, so no faffing with standing in the cold at a petrol station in the morning.
I guess the only downside is the dick attitude from some EV drivers to others who decide EV ownership isn't for them.
Some on here sound like turbo charged vegan's with their nonsense, but hopefully they'll grow out of it sooner or later.

I really don’t miss the petrol station wait while someone does their shopping and blocks the only pump, the multiple closed pumps or freezing as I stand waiting for the car to fill up.

 

[JonRGV250]

and the buying of lottery tickets, sending a parcel and deciding what diabetes delivery mechanism version of chocolate they want to buy, and then rooting through their pockets to pay exactly the right amount in cash when they get to the till.
That I won't miss.
At all.
Ever.

 

[VaderDSL]

Heater is faster and better than any ICE I've owned.

I had a Ford Puma with remote start, heated windscreen (no heated seats/steering wheel) so pre heating wasn't new to me. The Skoda app works fine to pre heat the car and it conserves battery power when plugged in at home. It's nice not having to worry about de icing at 5am. The heated windscreen on the Ford does work quicker, but not by much.

 

[ICDP]

Oh I agree. I'm curious why you'd buy a EV without a home charger though. That just doesn't compute for me.

From what I have read this is a case of someone owing an EV for a few years, not getting a home charger, doing lots of long distance trips… in winter. Any sensible EV owner would have told them “don’t do it without getting a home charger”.

Yeah I don't know where this thing about the BMW i4 being the best driving EV comes from. It's really not particularly special.

And who being a petrol head, bought an i4 40 like it was something special in the world of “sporty” EVs. It’s not bad, but not great.

Anyone else reading this exchange take note. Do not buy an EV if you do long winter drives and refuse to buy a home charger. You WILL be disappointed.

 

[Jonnycoupe]

While some of the newer heat pump type techs are pretty powerful you can get ICEs with similar additional PTC heaters to EVs which will warm up the car far faster and better than waiting on the engine, even on petrol. Diesel without PTC is pretty miserable as it can take 5 minutes of driving or 20+ minutes of idling before you get proper heat coming through.

They are about 1200W max so nothing like a HV heater kicking out 5kW. The only thing comparable is fuel fired heaters.

Nothing really “powerful” about a heat pump, it’s moving heat but with very high Coefficient of Production.

The PTC are only really apparent on diesels to supplement the very slow coolant warm up time. Ie hygiene level of cabin comfort rather than good.

 

[Tinders]

I4 was basically the company car chariot of choice for those that couldn’t have a 320d anymore. I always thought it was a decent drive. Preferred my 330e though.

That said, this fascination with having a fantastic handling/riding car for tue mundane tasks like school runs,commutes etc is beyond me. Yeah having a toy for the fun drives at the weekend is great but wanting the toy experience for churning up miles on a motorway is a bit pointless imo.

 

[jpaul]

And who being a petrol head, bought an i4 40 like it was something special in the world of “sporty” EVs. It’s not bad, but not great.

which would say is the sporty ev ? at the end of the day an ev's a pragmmatic choice(running cost, home charging&pre-heat)

While some of the newer heat pump type techs are pretty powerful you can get ICEs with similar additional PTC heaters to EVs which will warm up the car far faster and better than waiting on the engine, even on petrol. Diesel without PTC is pretty miserable as it can take 5 minutes of driving or 20+ minutes of idling before you get proper heat coming through.

Tesla heaters all in are about 6KW (20 minutes, the couple of units I mentioned) wouldn't you need a beefed up battery in an ICE to do the same, otherwise, why don't they'd offer that on all ICE's
- perhaps need to be able to plug it in overnight too, if you only had short journeys.

 

[Jonnycoupe]

Just read my post than ask that guy when he just made it up.

Latest model 3 doesn’t have a dedicated cabin heater anyway just uses motor out of phase / stall torque to generate excess heat.

 

[OspreyO]

From what I have read this is a case of someone owing an EV for a few years, not getting a home charger, doing lots of long distance trips… in winter. Any sensible EV owner would have told them “don’t do it without getting a home charger”.


And who being a petrol head, bought an i4 40 like it was something special in the world of “sporty” EVs. It’s not bad, but not great.

Anyone else reading this exchange take note. Do not buy an EV if you do long winter drives and refuse to buy a home charger. You WILL be disappointed.

I've heard from some people who don't do much driving, live in apartment ,like the idea of not much maintenance and maybe a charger at the long term job. Getting a EV.
Or some people not doing much driving happy to charge on a granny cable. But there can't be many like that.

 

[VincentHanna]

I4 was basically the company car chariot of choice for those that couldn’t have a 320d anymore. I always thought it was a decent drive. Preferred my 330e though.

That said, this fascination with having a fantastic handling/riding car for tue mundane tasks like school runs,commutes etc is beyond me. Yeah having a toy for the fun drives at the weekend is great but wanting the toy experience for churning up miles on a motorway is a bit pointless imo.

If you can get a car that drives pretty good and is also fine for churning up miles on a motorway, then you might as well try though

 

[ICDP]

I4 was basically the company car chariot of choice for those that couldn’t have a 320d anymore. I always thought it was a decent drive. Preferred my 330e though.

That said, this fascination with having a fantastic handling/riding car for tue mundane tasks like school runs,commutes etc is beyond me. Yeah having a toy for the fun drives at the weekend is great but wanting the toy experience for churning up miles on a motorway is a bit pointless imo.

Yeah i4 is a decent car, but as you say it is in the mould of being an all rounder type car. It should not be considered “one of the better handling EVs”.

 

[Kenai]

What are supposed to be the better handling EVs then? I recall the i4 often getting praised in reviews for it's handling and driving enjoyment 'for an EV'.

AutoExpress

But, arguably, the manufacturer’s greatest achievement with the i4 is the way it drives. Despite weighing in at over two tonnes, the five-door Gran Coupe is superb through the corners with plenty of grip, a precise feel to the steering and no hint of understeer. Aside from the lack of combustion noise, we think you’d struggle to tell the difference between the i4 and a fossil-fuelled BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe out on the road.

TopGear

The i4 feels like a BMW, which is a great bar for an electric model to reach – it handles well (like a BMW saloon should), with an assertive turn-in. It obviously has the explosive go if you put it in the right mode, but it can also move along with that restrained urgency you appreciate in a nice German saloon. What it doesn’t do is what many electric vehicles have done so far and confuse excessive acceleration with personality.

Carbuyer

All in all, though, we found the i4 to have a driving experience in another league compared to rivals when we drove them back to back in our electric company car megatest.

Pistonheads

Beyond the latent thrills of its acceleration, this isn’t a wildly engaging M car, but it continues to drive with typical BMW panache; its balance is led from the rear and a swift, satisfying flow is always there for the taking.

It's clearly not an entirely misplaced opinion to think the i4 is well regarded in the handling stakes in the EV world.

 

[cuke2u]

Yeah i4 is a decent car, but as you say it is in the mould of being an all rounder type car. It should not be considered “one of the better handling EVs”.

I beg to differ, within that same class it is one of the better handling cars. Not as good perhaps as a Porsche or an etron, basically the same as a Porsche anyway just with a different shell, and the ipace maybe but streets ahead of any other.

 

[OspreyO]

I4 was basically the company car chariot of choice for those that couldn’t have a 320d anymore. I always thought it was a decent drive. Preferred my 330e though.

That said, this fascination with having a fantastic handling/riding car for tue mundane tasks like school runs,commutes etc is beyond me. Yeah having a toy for the fun drives at the weekend is great but wanting the toy experience for churning up miles on a motorway is a bit pointless imo.

Depends how compromised the car is at either job.

 

[turbot1984]

Guys, 2 years with an i4 ... my previous 535D Touring was waaay better to drive.
Just sayin

 

[Rroff]

They are about 1200W max so nothing like a HV heater kicking out 5kW. The only thing comparable is fuel fired heaters.

Nothing really “powerful” about a heat pump, it’s moving heat but with very high Coefficient of Production.

The PTC are only really apparent on diesels to supplement the very slow coolant warm up time. Ie hygiene level of cabin comfort rather than good.

Anything in the 1-5kw range, which is typical for EVs, is reasonably rapid at heating the size of space of the average car and a world of difference to waiting on the engine to produce heat.

I put the caveat at the start because some vehicles with a hybrid heat pump type system which combines both high efficiency and rapid initial heating using both battery and/or cabin heating can offer extremely rapid initial heating with combined output of the system sometimes well in excess of 5kw for initial warm up.

Tesla heaters all in are about 6KW (20 minutes, the couple of units I mentioned) wouldn't you need a beefed up battery in an ICE to do the same, otherwise, why don't they'd offer that on all ICE's
- perhaps need to be able to plug it in overnight too, if you only had short journeys.

See above.

 

[ICDP]

Guys, 2 years with an i4 ... my previous 535D Touring was waaay better to drive.
Just sayin

Yeah we know, the i4 isn’t great, just decent. Not sure what you were expecting with it?

It’s called research, you should try it.

 

[Kenai]

Yeah we know, the i4 isn’t great, just decent.

What is considered great in the i4's class?

 

[Rroff]

That said, this fascination with having a fantastic handling/riding car for tue mundane tasks like school runs,commutes etc is beyond me. Yeah having a toy for the fun drives at the weekend is great but wanting the toy experience for churning up miles on a motorway is a bit pointless imo.

TBH if money was no object give me a decent grand tourer on the sportier end of the range with a decent V6 or V8 for anything whether mundane tasks, motorway runs or a bit of a fun drive. Though I'll grin and bear it I don't enjoy the handling/ride on the average car even for mundane tasks.