[up_north]

Hi all

We’re considering an iX3 (already experienced EV owners). Had a test drive and generally happy with it. One thing I couldn’t see on the display was a numerical battery percentage (eg ‘76%’). There was a gauge from which you could guess at the rough percentage but nothing more than that. Is the display configurable so that the actual percentage is always shown? Every EV I’ve had so far has had this. It’s not a deal breaker for us but would be good to know.

Thank you,

[GaSelle]

No, not in its current state, unfortunately. You´ll get the estimated range in KM´s (or miles, of you for some weird reason would prefer that ) and then the "fuel gauge", which is divided into 10 segments, so it gives you a rough idea.

[GDEvans]

Somebody mentioned elsewhere that if you ask the car (via voice command) it will tell you the exact percentage, although I've never asked it. Otherwise the phone app gives the percentage as a figure.

You can guess it to about 5% from the "fuel gauge", which I find is accurate enough for most purposes.

[up_north]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. Yes - you can use voice - the salesperson did exactly that.

And yes - we do use those weird miles things - along with litres!!!! 😀

[Lazy Lee]

Having owned a Leaf in the past, where every % counted, it was useful to know. But no petrol/diesel car that I have ever owned showed me a % of fuel left.

Having this segmented display, especially with the estimate of km/miles left is really good enough with a battery this size. We are not trying to eke out a bit extra to get over 120-130 kilometres anymore, after all. At least, that's my opinion. A usable range of 300-400 km, depending on circumstances doesn't make me worry anymore about the last 2-3% difference.

[steviej2802]

Have to say, it also kind of irritates me as well having to mentally add up the blocks left to see the percentage. I guess it is true that petrol driven cars don't do % either, but we are used to this from charging phones and other electronic devices... and we also have lower range than petrol / diesel cars, so it feels more urgent. I also wish there was a config option to allow this.

This is not only for SOC when driving, but also whilst charging: you only get the segmented bar on the dashboard, which you also need to count up the blocks.

The only place I know of to get actual percentages for the SOC and charge is in the app. However, I now want to experiment with the voice command!

[GDEvans]

Originally Posted by steviej2802

Have to say, it also kind of irritates me as well having to mentally add up the blocks left to see the percentage. I guess it is true that petrol driven cars don't do % either, but we are used to this from charging phones and other electronic devices... and we also have lower range than petrol / diesel cars, so it feels more urgent. I also wish there was a config option to allow this.

This is not only for SOC when driving, but also whilst charging: you only get the segmented bar on the dashboard, which you also need to count up the blocks.

The only place I know of to get actual percentages for the SOC and charge is in the app. However, I now want to experiment with the voice command!

Just think what all this mental arithmetic is doing to keep your brain active. Maybe BMW are helping us to keep our brain power!

[Supa Koopa]

'Hey BMW, battery status'

[Mogwai888]

Possibly in the minority, but I’m not sure what a SOC % would add. Would it be used to calculate your effective remaining range?

As the maximum range is just a theoretical number, I find the efficiency meter with the remaining range gauge more helpful.

The only time I use the SOC is when I’m home charging to know roughly when I need to set the charging from.

May be I’m blinkered and got used to one of the compromises of driving an EV, having to monitor range!

[Grey_Wolf]

"One thing I couldn’t see on the display was a numerical battery percentage (eg ‘76%’). There was a gauge from which you could guess at the rough percentage but nothing more than that. Is the display configurable so that the actual percentage is always shown? "

On top of that I genuinely don't understand why everything is shown in % when it would be so simple to show both an accurate Battery % and kWh charge remaining which would be a lot more useful.

I have to work out what is x% of 76kwh in my head (approximately because it's a b***Y analogue faking gauge) and then multiply that by my miles /kWh to give me a reasonable estimate of range (not the guessometer version) which seldom gets close to this.

There is SOO much wasted space on the displays with pretty images of my car that I don't need etc and yet things like kWH remaining and distance to destination cant be seen on the summary screen. (For miles to destination I have to go into Nav. Even my 10 year old 535D used to show me that on the front screen!)

Why don't they ask people what they want to see, and give an option of a digital display showing Battery %, Battery kWH, and Range Estimate all together on one section.

I do wonder if they didn't take a design short cut and just repurpose the fuel gauge on the original X3 dash without thinking about what an EV driver needs to know.

Rant over ��

[silent ninja]

The bars are also the inaccurate. I always charge to 100%, yet the bar doesn't drop until I hit around 80%. So its really a 0-80% gauge.

You can ask the voice assistant, but it seems to be an obvious feature missed out by BMW.

[adam.b]

I can't understand this whole fuzz about persentage. ICE cars don't have them or how many liters left in tank, older cars when cornering gauge was going with flow of what was in tank.
I find gauge on ix3 quite aqurate a realy need to know full, 3/4, half and 1/4. It is easy to calculate where you are.
Fully charged during summer, I will do aroud 240-260 miles, winter/cold weather 200-220 miles.
What difference would it make if it will show 71% or just be little below 3/4 on gauge?
You don't calculate jurney as:
Trip 130 miles, I need 57% baterry charge to get there, realy?

[iX3 rijder]

In the app is states the % and a rough range. As we all know the range will never be accurate. Although I still struggle to understand why there are several “ranges” available (app, display, routeplanner). Neither is more reliable than the other.