[Chazuk]

I am looking at buying a year old IX3 m-sport, I have done hours of research and I am slightly concerned with range as it seems to questioned allot on threads. I understand as with any make of EV actual range seems to be a big difference to range quoted.

The car will mainly be used for family duties, I have read posts and see people mentioning slip streaming hgv’s and driving everywhere at 60, also range depending on using the air con / or heating and if it is cold or hot weather.I am just not sure I can live with that seems a massive sacrifice or is it not that bad?

Is anyone using a ix3 as a family car which replaced a diesel? If so would you do it again?

[Daimlermg]

No, it’s not that bad at all.
I get 3 1/2 mi./kW in the winter and 4 to 4 1/2 in the summer driving an Eco pro or Comfort settings and driving the same speed of real estate on the road.
Driving on motorways yes it’s better at 65 and 70 because the wind resistance is higher at 70 and that will reduce the range a bit in the summer. When you compare it to other electric cars the only one that can beat it is the model three Tesla , but that’s more streamlined so it will do better.
In nearly 2 years of ownership my total average is 3 1/2 miles per kilowatt

[Supa Koopa]

Some are better at getting good range than others. I'm pretty crap at it and always have been regardless of what car I own. I've only had mine since September last year and have only done just under 3k miles, so not much of a comparison, but I'm averaging 2.9 miles per kWh. I expect it to get better as I'm regularly getting mid 3's now it's warming up. During bad winter days it would be mid 2's.

In February I did a 212 mile trip on the motorway, at night, full heating on, doing 70 -75, normal driving behaviour, using cruise control, etc, and when I arrived at home I think I had 18% left. So a bad driver (economy wise), in the worst conditions, so this should be your worst case scenario.

So it's okay, not brilliant, but not dreadful. Mentally I'd love it if it could do 300 miles but I've no idea why because I don't travel that far, it's just a mental thing.

I don't have a fancy tariff as we just don't do the miles, but those 3k miles have cost me less than £300 in electric (including the expensive recharges when we did the long trips) so that's less than half I would've spent in petrol.

I'd love more range, but the rest of the car is very good. It drives brilliantly and is obviously very smooth and quiet. Long journeys are a pleasure and it's a nice place to be.

However if you do lots of travelling and have to regularly charge away from home I wouldn't bother. Finding a fast charger can be a pain and is very expensive. A full charge at home, I.e 60kwh is less than £14 at my now standard 23p per kWh, at a public charger it could be £30 if you can find 50p per kWh charger, or £53 if you can only find an 89p fast charger which seems common at the moment. So cheap at home, expensive elsewhere. So it's not the range that bothers me it's this part that gets on my nerves. Save the planet but get shafted trying to do so.

[Chazuk]

Thanks for the replies, both positive which is good.

Supa Koopa

Your trip there of 212miles with 18% left is pretty good going I can handle that.

The information about the public charging is an eye opener, the super charging does surprise me in the cost I know those figures are from empty though. I guess on a family trip with the little ones in the back waiting on a hot summers day for charging I would always look for a super charger. It is interesting you mentioned this because a colleague at work runs a Tesla and swears that the Tesla charging network is miles ahead and one of the main reasons to get one. I have looked at model Y, I just do not think it is for me as you say the ix3 is a nice place to be, probably for me because it is based on the ice version it just feels more at home.

[silent ninja]

What range do you need?

We're a family of 5. We've driven to Scotland, Cornwall, London from the Midlands so up to 8 hours driving and 300+miles each direction with a roof box on two of the trips. It was absolutely fine as once you hit the 2.5-3hr mark everyone wants a break anyway.

Day to day we drive about 160 miles a week and we charge the car every 5-6 days.

Range has never been a real issue. It would be nice to have double the range, but it's not been a deal breaker by a longshot.

The car comes with every bit of kit - panoramic sunroof, head up display, reverse and 360 camera, excellent infotainment, adaptive dampers and so on - so for a family it's got the full whack of everything you want.

The only negative I would say is the boot. The normal X3 is spot on, but with the iX3 the boot is a little too small and shallow in my opinion.

[JimmyTheHand]

Originally Posted by silent ninja

The car comes with every bit of kit - panoramic sunroof, head up display, reverse and 360 camera, excellent infotainment, adaptive dampers and so on - so for a family it's got the full whack of everything you want.

The "head up display", and "360 camera" (together with Acoustic glass, comfort access, Harman/Kardon Surround Sound Audio System & Gesture Control) are on M Sport Pro, not M Sport) on current configurations.

[ThreeXi]

Originally Posted by Chazuk

I am looking at buying a year old IX3 m-sport, I have done hours of research and I am slightly concerned with range as it seems to questioned allot on threads. I understand as with any make of EV actual range seems to be a big difference to range quoted.

The car will mainly be used for family duties, I have read posts and see people mentioning slip streaming hgvÂ’s and driving everywhere at 60, also range depending on using the air con / or heating and if it is cold or hot weather.I am just not sure I can live with that seems a massive sacrifice or is it not that bad?

Is anyone using a ix3 as a family car which replaced a diesel? If so would you do it again?

Hello,

I am using the iX3 as a family car which replaced a Ford Kuga, yes I'd do it again, wish I switched to electric earlier.

I charge my iX3 at home using a low power (3.5Kw) PodPoint charger, my commute to and from work is a 50 mile round trip each day, range, although less than a Kuga on a full tank of diesel, has never been a concern.

In regard to the forum posts you've seen about driving techniques, I recommend just drive safely to the conditions of the road. The outside temperature does affect range, generally the cold reduces the range, warmth increases the range. The air conditioning system will reduce the range when switched on, in my experience it reduces the range only by a few miles, if this is a concern and it is only you in the car, in my opinion, heat the person not the cabin by using the front heated seats and heated steering wheel instead of using the cabin heating, this technique sips electricity it isn't even noticeable on the battery range. A feature called pre conditioning (heating or cooling the cabin) is available too which saves on battery range when the car is plugged in to a charger.

Many thanks,

[keninuk]

I have only averaged around 2.5 miles pkWh over 2 years but I do short journeys and only about 4,000 miles a year. On longer journeys on warm days I can get well over 3 miles pkWh so it all depends on your use case, driving style and also whether you precondition the battery which I never do.

We would all like more range and I will probably buy mine next March and keep it for 2-3 years until there is a decent selection of vehicles that will hopefully be offering 300+ miles in cold weather.

If you are buying used then I would look for a discount off the asking price. As I will be looking to buy mine next March I have been keeping a close eye on prices and trade-in values.

The Premier/Premier Pro seem worst affected as I have seen one still on sale drop from £37,000 to currently £32,500. The 1 year old ones look cheap compared to new but a Nov 21 M Sport Pro has dropped from £41,000 to £39,800 since going on sale a few weeks ago.

You are always going to take a hit with their profit on a used car from a main dealer but I would try and use what seems to be a buyers market to your best advantage.

[Mogwai888]

Hi

I’m averaging 2.7m/Kwh so about 200 miles range, which suits the majority of my journeys. For less regular longer journeys requires a bit more planning on charge stops enroute.

I haven’t changed the way I drive as or use the car (climate etc) vs previous ICE cars so know I’m not most efficient driver but want to enjoy the car. I like how the IX3 drives as torque is pretty instant and as no gears makes response feel quick.

I would defo consider another EV after my lease ends but would depend on cost, as currently on salary sacrifice which makes the EV decision easier.

[JAV64]

The best guide would be to take 3 miles per kw/h as an average and with 74 kw/h the average mileage is about 220miles. Like others have said if you charge from home its fine but on long distances the cost is high, Gridserve at Watford Gap charge 69p kw/h. On this basis it's very expensive and right now now there is a culture of ripping off cables for it copper and you then for ever more searching. Best advice get a hybrid. Best of both Worlds. I contacted Life EV and asked if they had any intentions of replacing these cables, the answer I got was the Council must first secure the area where these stations are located as as soon as they replace them another station cables are cut and basically no they are not replacing until there is a fix. For those that would depend on public changing avoid ev's unless you have a charger at home.

[GDEvans]

Originally Posted by Chazuk

The car will mainly be used for family duties, I have read posts and see people mentioning slip streaming hgv’s and driving everywhere at 60, also range depending on using the air con / or heating and if it is cold or hot weather.I am just not sure I can live with that seems a massive sacrifice or is it not that bad?

I have a 2.5 year old iX3. Remember that this was one of the earlier vehicles in the current generation, and it was based on the ICE model. As a result, there are compromises with the architecture when you compare it to EVs that were designed to be purely electric from the start. But BMW have done a pretty good job here. I ordered my car almost exactly 3 years ago, and the choice at this price point was relatively limited. In the six months between ordering and delivery, the car market changed considerably, with many new cars released. And it has changed again in the 2.5 years since, with even more new cars on offer, and much wider choice.

Typically I get 220 mile range in the summer and 180 miles in winter. Most of my trips are short local ones. With occasional longer trips, but normally to known destinations where we use the same charge points.

I drive it how I drove my previous ICEVs. 75-80mph on the motorway, and the climate control is permanently on. My partner uses the heated seats pretty much all year round (don't ask!) and it has no impact on range. Only once have we slowed down on a journey - but only to 65-70mph for the last 40 miles just to make sure we got home without another brief "splash and dash" charge stop.

I can't think of anything worse than driving at 60 on the motorway, or slipstreaming lorries!!!

This is my only car. Apart from possibly getting a weekend toy with a petrol engine, I am not going back to ICE.

[steviej2802]

I generally get around 320KM on a full charge.

I live in Germany and do a lot of driving on the autobahns, and see a huge difference in the range between leaving in Eco-Pro and sticking to 130KM/h, or going up to say 150.

Range could definitely be better (my usual drive is between Nürnberg and München, and I cannot drive there and back on one charge). However, the car is really nicely appointed and a pleasure to be inside.

[Rathian]

Most of the driving is done on a 75 mile round trip commute Monday to Friday.

I’m generally not in too much of a rush to get to work or get home so tend to stick to around 65mph.

Winter I tend to hit 3-3.2 and summer I have seen 4.2 but usually in the region of 3.8-4 miles per kWh.

The car is fantastic. It has everything I need in a car and plan on keeping it beyond the 4 years pcp if the costs stack up when it’s time to settle the balloon payment.

The Yoko tyres that came with the car lasted 25k miles. Really didn’t like them in the really cold wet weather.

Swapped out for Michelin CrossClimate’s and the car feels so much better in the cold weather. Not seen much if any loss of range from the switch in tyres.

Downside’s are no storage under the bonnet, transmission tunnel still there being a legacy ICE designed car and heating system could be better.

[Bluefoz]

Originally Posted by Rathian

Most of the driving is done on a 75 mile round trip commute Monday to Friday.

I’m generally not in too much of a rush to get to work or get home so tend to stick to around 65mph.

Winter I tend to hit 3-3.2 and summer I have seen 4.2 but usually in the region of 3.8-4 miles per kWh.

The car is fantastic. It has everything I need in a car and plan on keeping it beyond the 4 years pcp if the costs stack up when it’s time to settle the balloon payment.

The Yoko tyres that came with the car lasted 25k miles. Really didn’t like them in the really cold wet weather.

Swapped out for Michelin CrossClimate’s and the car feels so much better in the cold weather. Not seen much if any loss of range from the switch in tyres.

Downside’s are no storage under the bonnet, transmission tunnel still there being a legacy ICE designed car and heating system could be better.

Pretty much the same experience / observations.

We’ve had the car just over a year, we replaced my wife’s 225xe PHEV with an iX3 having “dipped” a toe in the EV experience and couldn’t be happier. Although officially my wife’s / our second car, my car (640D GC) rarely turns a wheel!

Only charged away from home a handful of times, but every time has been a pleasant, trouble-free experience using Electroverse card. Just returned from a few days in Cornwall (210miles each way), easily achieved on a charge with a fair bit in reserve. Used the Tesla superchargers near Launceston - at 45p they are relatively far better value. On the return journey we achieved 3.2mi/kWh that was mostly motorway driving with the cruise set to 73. It is surprising the difference a few mph makes on the consumption, if I were to set the cruise to 78 I would expect something like 2.7mi/kWh.

With Octopus Go and charging overnight at 7.5p it works out at less than 2.5p per mile, the 640D is something closer to 18p!

I would add though, if you’re always charging away from home and spending way north of 50p / kWh the cost per mile quickly becomes similar to a petrol / diesel car…..