discussion IX3

[UwaisPatel]

Hi guys

Does anyone have real world experience with the BMW IX3


They seem to be slightly cheaper than an equivalent year model X3 30D

BMW claims the range is 460km

How achievable is this ?


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[///Avi]

What’s your drive to work like?

In town the range should be achievable, out on the open road less likely.

Factors like temperature affect range. If it’s quite cold the range is lower.

Whats the warranty on the battery? Fast charging deteriorates the battery faster than slow charging, The vehicle needs to be at close to 100% useable capacity to be able to achieve its 460km range. Over the lifetime of the vehicle the battery capacity will drop.

I’m not sure about this vehicle specifically but EVs in general.

 

[PsyCLown]

I do not have any real world experience with the ix3 but looking at the specs of the 30d vs the ix3, while the ix3 has more power the 0-100 time is around 1 second slower than the 30d. It may be a good idea to go test drive one before deciding its what you want as the driving experience will likely differ quite a lot compared to the 30d.

I believe BMW provide an 8 year / 160 000KM warranty on their EV batteries. Depending on how the battery was looked after during its life time would also affect the lifespan / health of the batteries and how they deteriorate etc.

 

[UwaisPatel]

For day to day driving the range should be more than enough

I’m worried about the occasional trip to the Kruger park or Durban which might be a little challenging

I will test drive both soon


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[modocrat]

@gumpertapolloss has one..

 

[gumpertapolloss]

Thanks for the tag.

IX3 is the wife's car, and she LOVES it.

She does a round trip of 28km per day and stop at the shops every second day or so.
I charge her car for free every second week at the local dealer.

Realistic range (Durban weather) is about 320-350km.
I've seen 400km on the range at full charge, but you'd have to drive very efficiently to achieve this.

I have also used the car a bit on the open road from Umhlanga to Pretoria and the other time from Umhlanga to Limpopo.

No diesel or petrol will match the cost compared to charging. Usually I charge between 50-60 minutes total from Durban to PTA. I do two stops - 1st one at Ladysmith and 2nd one at Sasol Tanda Tau. Heading up it costs me R560-R580 for charging and coming down it cost me R520-R530. This is at 145km/h on the CC.

IX3's also come high spec.
We have a full spec car except for Head-up and Lumbar support. They all come with HK, electric seats, driving assist professional, extended leather with leather dash etc.

Keep in mind, iX3 is RWD and towing capacity is very low.

Quick calculations below show the cost saving.
Nett battery capacity - 74kwh
Durban kwh costing - R2.88kwh
2.88 X 74 = R213,12

R213,12 for let's call it 330km range.
R0.64c per km

Maintenance is not a concern. Brakes will last much longer with regen, you have AC filter, brake fluid, wipers and a battery health check every 2nd or 3rd service. I will see how long a set of tires will last me. I can imagine rear tires won't last long due to the torque.

8-year/160,000km warranty on battery.

Edit:
Don't buy a electric car on normal finance or cash, you WILL lose money and depreciation will hurt.
Buy electric cars on lease and on lease only. End of term, give it back, move into another EV or whatever you like.....

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[UwaisPatel]

Very informative

Much appreciated brother


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[TurboLlew]

Edit:
Don't buy a electric car on normal finance or cash, you WILL lose money and depreciation will hurt.
Buy electric cars on lease and on lease only. End of term, give it back, move into another EV or whatever you like.....

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Good advice here.

No diesel or petrol will match the cost compared to charging. Usually I charge between 50-60 minutes total from Durban to PTA. I do two stops - 1st one at Ladysmith and 2nd one at Sasol Tanda Tau. Heading up it costs me R560-R580 for charging and coming down it cost me R520-R530. This is at 145km/h on the CC.

Is there a service/subscription to the charging stations that brings down those costs? It seems alot higher than home charging would be. I think this may be the year we get a PHEV of some sort - not sure about total electric still.

 

[Solo Man]

My son has recently sold his 2020 Jag EV400 at a great loss. We took test drives in the iX1, iX3 and i4/35 by driving from Tyger Valley to the West Coast One Stop and back which is about 230kms. With the first two cars we started off at 120kph (gps) and had to bring down the speed on the return as the range dropped drastically. With the i4 it made the whole trip doing 120. This was disappointing as my son was looking at more range as a first preference. Also the cost to lease (he wants to lease yearly as he intends moving abroad in two years time) was quite high. He then went to one of the leasing companies that leases electric cars and got a Volvo XC40 Twin Recharge. He is leasing it for 30 days and has it now for about a week. The car has about the same performance as the Jag EV400 (about 4.8 sec to 100) and pulls like a train. He went to Hermanus for a short holiday and drove around there. His findings is that at this stage with the lower speed on the open road the range is close to 400kms. He is even more impressed with the deal he got as the lease per month includes free fuel/electricity, free insurance and the lease is much cheaper than with the i4!!! I drove the car yesterday and man, it goes! My advice is shop around. Me and my son, we love BMW's, but it did not make sense money wise. As was mentioned above, lease is the way to go with electric vehicles! Just my 2c's. Just to add, both the first two trips with the BMW's was with a strong wind from behind going there and strong wind from straight ahead coming back.

 

[PsyCLown]

Is there a service/subscription to the charging stations that brings down those costs? It seems alot higher than home charging would be. I think this may be the year we get a PHEV of some sort - not sure about total electric still.

R2.88 per kWh sounds cheap to me, especially if that is for a quick charger.
I am with Eskom direct on post paid, the first 600 units I get charged R2.82 per kWh and thereafter it's R4.46 per kWh (incl VAT) and these figures excludes the network capacity charge.

Even if one has solar, unless you have an decent excess of panels and large battery storage, it won't help all that much.

 

[sAnDmAn_]

. He is even more impressed with the deal he got as the lease per month includes free fuel/electricity, free insurance and the lease is much cheaper than with the i4!!! aro.

Please share details of the place offering the lease?

 

[gumpertapolloss]

Is there a service/subscription to the charging stations that brings down those costs? It seems alot higher than home charging would be. I think this may be the year we get a PHEV of some sort - not sure about total electric still.

Charging stations is mostly managed by Gridcars in SA. BMW provides you with a charging card that's linked to Gridcars. You can also just tap your CC on the charging RFID and it will start to charge and deduct the funds from your CC.

Link - Gridcars network

Above link provides you with all Gridcars charging stations in SA. You can monitor fees, if the charger is active and also if someone is busy at the charging station.

I have to note that close to you - Mall of Africa has a 200kwh charger. I charged there once coming from KZN and it's insane to see the rate of charge!! If we can expand the network with more 100,150 and 200kwh chargers it will drastically increase charging time and EV useability.

To use the above charger at Mall of Africa as a example - below fees calculated.

Nett battery capacity - 74kwh
Mall of Africa kwh costing - R7.00kwh
R7.00 X 74 = R518

R518 for let's call it 330km range.
R1.56 per km

The above is a example of worst case scenario and as I mentioned - it's all about planning. There's a lot of BMW dealers where you can still charge for free, a lot of mall's that offer free charging and if you can capitalize on this, it's a massive benefit. I never charge to 100% on open road, but rather from like 35% - 80%.

Also note, PHEV is AC compatible only which brings down charging time to 7.4kwh and with some, 11kwh. BEV vehicles range from 150-200kwh DC charging and if planned correctly, will give you same travel time as a internal combustion vehicle.

Once again, for everyday purpose charging from home or using free public facilities - the value for money is immense.

Oh, and did I mention the deal I got the iX3 for..... It was a no brainer.

 

[gumpertapolloss]

R2.88 per kWh sounds cheap to me, especially if that is for a quick charger.
I am with Eskom direct on post paid, the first 600 units I get charged R2.82 per kWh and thereafter it's R4.46 per kWh (incl VAT) and these figures excludes the network capacity charge.

Even if one has solar, unless you have an decent excess of panels and large battery storage, it won't help all that much.

R2.88 is AC charger at home. Cheapest public facilities is between R4.88 - R5.75

 

[Solo Man]

Here is their advert.

 

[Gordvisr]

For interest sake, say we have a trip from Jhb to Kzn, where exactly do you charge these cars . and how long do you wait on a charge ?

 

[Holiman]

For interest sake, say we have a trip from Jhb to Kzn, where exactly do you charge these cars . and how long do you wait on a charge ?

I have seen the charging bays at Harrismith (around 270 km from JHB). So in theory you need to only stop there. Assuming the charger is fast charging, you are looking at around 1 hour charge.

I don't have an electric car. This is just based on what's on the internet and average values.

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[Gordvisr]

thanks.

 

[Zach]

More like a 3hour wait just to get an unoccupied charging station, then a couple more hours to charge. At least there's so much to do in harrismith while you wait.😂😂😂

 

[Zach]

On that note, SA government are now subsidizing the sale of Chinese EV cars in SA knowing fully well the infrastructure needed to support them isn't in place. It's not just a lack of charging stations but also our fragile grid cannot support them. With more EVs coming into SA the situation will only get worse.

 

[Zach]

Queuing at a busy filling station for several minutes can be frustrating just to get petrol or diesel but fortunately this only happens during festive season migrations and price increases.
EV yuppies need to realize that queuing for hours will become the norm to charge their cars in a continent where petrol and diesel will always be king.