Beautiful car! The grill would take some getting used to.
I drove my first electric - 2025 BMW i4 M50
- Thread starter alarmguy
- Start date
In many places traveling fast can cost you a big hunk of change. Not only in fines but insurance increases and points on you license.
In MA the limit is 65 with many highways still at 55, doing 80 on a 55 can get you done for reckless driving. Given that, my old MB 59HP diesel would do 70 all day in comfort and make the round trip without filling.
With all the methods they have today to catch you high HP cars gas or electric don't make much sense.
For certain. I'm a 9 over guy myself, but looove acceleration if I have it and it's safe to use.
Thing is when I said "traveling fast in an EV" I didn't specifically mean speeding - I meant charging strategically.
This is super non intuitive at first and counter to how it seems one should do it.
By this I mean planning charger arrival at as low a state of charge as you feel safe, then charging only till the curve rolls off (typically no more than a half hour) then taking off to the next charger or destination long before " filling up".
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He did not stop at a super charger. He stopped at a Mercedes-Benz MB.CHARGE station. Supercharger™ is a trademark of Tesla.
And had he been driving a cheap plebeian Tesla Model Y Long Range (2020 edition) he would have had to stop 5 minutes in Columbia and 20 minutes in Florence.
https://www.tesla.com/trips#/?v=MY_... River Horry County [email protected],-78.6141488
A Model S (or even Model 3 Long Range) would stop for 10 minutes in Florence:
https://www.tesla.com/trips#/?v=MS_... River Horry County [email protected],-78.6141488
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My 2023 Model Y Long Range hits it's numbers spot-on. On a regular trip to/from Tennessee of 140 miles I regularly beat the EPA range estimate used on the "fuel gauge".
They suffer from The Gas Station Fallacy: the belief that we have always had gas stations, will always have gas stations, and everything must behave exactly as it always had with gas stations.
"EVs will never catch on until there are more charging stations!"
ICE driving mother's basement armchair EV experts believe one drives an EV from full to empty just like they do an ICE.
And do not understand how an EV starts every morning with exactly as much charge as the owner desires.
Nuts on 65 MPH rated ST trailer tires.
EV range is a funny thing. If you charge at home, and use the car for around town and short trips, it almost doesn't matter. The M50 short range, or any EV, would be a non-issue in that scenario. And beyond that far more convenient than any ICE vehicle because you never have to stop for fuel. Add in less maintenance requirements to get a fuller picture...
On longer trips, range, charger availability, etc. is another story. You gotta learn effective charging; your EV trip planner helps. Hint: It generally ain't charging to 100%.
These cars aren't for everyone.
On longer trips, range, charger availability, etc. is another story. You gotta learn effective charging; your EV trip planner helps. Hint: It generally ain't charging to 100%.
These cars aren't for everyone.
Yeah, I agree and think that needs to be improved. Looks like an afterthought.
I believe BMW hired a new designer. The kidneys (beaver teeth?) are a bit over grown... Still a gorgeous set of wheels!
Agree, depending where you live. With that said, high HP or electric doesnt really make you drive faster. Its just gets you there faster.
Meaning all cars in the class that we talk about in here can comfortably do 90 MPH. It's just the thrill of higher horse power getting to that speed in a couple seconds. IN the land of the free (southeast) many interstates are 70 MPH, add in another 10% or so, no police officer is going to pull you over for doing 80 I look at 78 as the completely "safe zone". 80 to 83 as the caution zone and a cop can catch so many people passing someone at those speeds that your speed isnt that bad. Not only that but many of these states you do not see cops.
Yeah, I always admired BMWs front ends and still do but in this case I think that grill should be narrowed down. If it was 1/3rd to 1/2 smaller I would be happy. Not that I wouldnt buy the car over that but it is the one thing I am not thrilled about/
Comparing the M50 to any Long Range EV is apples to oranges... One is all out performance and the other is efficiency based. Having said that, I don't understand the huge discrepancy between the BMW numbers that @alarmguy posted vs some other values I've seen. @OVERKILL posted Consumer Reports EPA vs their test, but that was using the 19" wheels which is apples to oranges vs 20" wheels as well.
Not sure exactly what I should believe. I do review Bjorn Nyland posts; he offers a spreadsheet with his results.
The big thing, IMO, is people dismiss EVs based on ICE standards; that's apples to oranges once again. Each drivetrain has its place.
I "re" watched Bjorn's vids on the car which were based on the 19" wheels, and he like it a lot but at the same time acknowledges its thirsty and heavy as a byproduct combo of the gen purpose nature of it and its lux-ness.
I'm surprised that 20's seem to make that big a difference, Id expect some range loss, but not 50 miles+ of range loss.
The early model had a weird throttling issue early on that appears to be fixed where only fast charged X amount of times in X hours killing the 1K trip.
All that said when ironed out it still offered a competitive trip time and swallowed electricity at a decent rate.
As for the beak, it's like a supermodel that could use a nose job - still smoking hot.
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1. You getting confused. ( I think but maybe not
)READ the link I provided in the OP. IT shows the i4 M50 exceeded the EPA 227 estimate but not too much, 20 miles. But it wasnt lower as you suggested.
It also gives the EPA numbers for various i4 configurations. You are correct on that the M50 version is the "all out" however you can get longer range with the i4 in other versions. The m50 i4 is the highest performing but if you dont need 500+ HP you can get more range with the same model minus the 500 Hp motor.
2. Pay attention to the model numbers. The model number of the Consumer Reports posted by @OVERKILL is a completely different BMW vehicle. But the report shows BMW consistently beating EPA estimates. Also confirmed by my original post in the road test report.
Just because my son came closer to the lower EPA numbers means nothing because his trip involved mostly all high speed interstate travel with no stopping. Meaning fitting just one of many driving conditions/criteria of what an EPA test would be.
I think this makes sense. I dont know what I am saying in here anymore *LOL* I gotta get out of here and do some gardening outside.
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OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
If you look at the first pic I posted, it's the i4 M50 with the smaller 19" wheels. Below that is the iX. Both beat their EPA estimates
WOW! Yes, I completely missed that.If you look at the first pic I posted, it's the i4 M50 with the smaller 19" wheels. Below that is the iX. Both beat their EPA estimates
Sometimes I think my brain is partially scattered. My wife notices too, Im typically on top of things. I think it's part of the fatigue side effect of my treatment. Looking forward, three weeks and I am done.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
All good, cancer treatment does that, hopefully it starts to clear up for you soon. The important thing is that you are cancer-free and able to spend this time with your son!
I get that, having ridden MC since Norton 750 Commando and BSA 650 Lightnings were considered fast up to modern 175-200HP super bikes. For me getting up to speed fast is only a small part of it, getting it there and keeping it there is the best part. There is nothing like doing almost 200 MPH on 2 wheels but you wont be doing that in the USA.
Here's my point regarding range, based on almost 7 years of ownership:1. You getting confused. ( I think but maybe not
READ the link I provided in the OP. IT shows the i4 M50 exceeded the EPA 227 estimate but not too much, 20 miles. But it wasnt lower as you suggested.
It also gives the EPA numbers for various i4 configurations. You are correct on that the M50 version is the "all out" however you can get longer range with the i4 in other versions. The m50 i4 is the highest performing but if you dont need 500+ HP you can get more range with the same model minus the 500 Hp motor.
2. Pay attention to the model numbers. The model number of the Consumer Reports posted by @OVERKILL is a completely different BMW vehicle. But the report shows BMW consistently beating EPA estimates. Also confirmed by my original post in the road test report.
Just because my son came closer to the lower EPA numbers means nothing because his trip involved mostly all high speed interstate travel with no stopping. Meaning fitting just one of many driving conditions/criteria of what an EPA test would be.
I think this makes sense. I dont know what I am saying in here anymore *LOL* I gotta get out of here and do some gardening outside.
In the real world, people generally do not charge to 100% as it is hard on the battery. I believe some batteries can better tolerate regular full charging; I'm sure @OVERKILL can speak more eloquently to that. Personally I've learned to charge to 75% unless I'm going further.
Second, you don't drive to empty, you drive to a charger based on availability.
Third, charging rate past 80% is highly inefficient.
Around town and short trips, range is less important, because you come home and plug in. You do not need Superchargers.
On a longer trip, whatever the max possible range, you don't use that. Better range goes from a non-ussue (in the around town case) to very beneficial. This is a key reason I swapped the '18 Mid Range for the '24 M3P; anything over 200 miles often required a charge. Now 250 miles is no biggie.
If your EV use case includes regular 250 mile trips, in my experience more range is a critical consideration.
AG, I absolutely understand different models return different range. And how you drive makes a difference... That's true of all vehicles, right? EVs tend to suck the juice on an aggressive curve as you push them hard; it is not linear.
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