I just got a V3 Vapor Grey I need some advice please :)

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andya
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri May 12, 2023 4:32 pm

Post by andya »

Hi guys I just got a V3 77kwh battery as my new company car I used it today for the first time I did 163 miles with 117 left in the battery when I got home, it was only doing around 3.6kw per mile I hope that will improve over time :) Any tips or advice to give me I am a sales rep and I am hoping the range will be enough for me, I go to Newcastle once every 3 weeks which is around a 230 mile round trip but a lot of the time I will be doing around 150 miles a day, I need to ask is there a normal heater on this carat all or is the climate control the only heating as when I turned that on the range dropped straight away by about 70 miles so I didn't use it, obviously that does worry me somewhat so am I going to freeze in winter as I know the range will be less in cold weather.

I must say I think the car drives and feels totally amazing it is a lovely car and it will save me around £3000 a year on benefit in kind which is great news.
I can see that getting used to looking for everything on that screen will take some getting used to for sure, I will have a search through the forum but if anyone has some obvious tips I really would appreciate it :)

Thanks

Andy

Shahev
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2022 9:29 pm
Location: Bracknell

Post by Shahev »

Congratulations on your V3! We're waiting for our 77kw V3 but SMC Woking gave a free loan 58kw V2. For range we found coasting (especially downhill) and keeping below 70 mph for motorways helps with the miles per kwh. In town we use B mode. We can often get close to 3.9 miles per kwh and above even when temperatures are only 10 degrees.
Born 77 kw. V3. DCC Beats Heat Pump Firestorm
andya
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri May 12, 2023 4:32 pm

Post by andya »

I bet you are looking forward to getting yours :) I know I will get used to how it all works I just hope I can average more than 3.6 to the mile
alanjs
Posts: 151
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2022 3:14 pm

Post by alanjs »

I'm totally amazed that you can get 3.6Kw/mile. I got 58Kw V3 in January and during the winter months I was only getting about 2.5Kw/mile on mostly short (10 mile) town trips and a weekly 35-mile motorway trip. Even now I am only getting around 3.5Kw/mile and less on the motorway.
Still, it's cheaper to run than my old Golf and it's comfortable enough and pleasant to drive.
Born V3, Aurora Blue, Tech (M) pack, Firestorm wheels, Pano roof
Ordered 21 June, 2022, delivered 17 Jan 2023
andya
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri May 12, 2023 4:32 pm

Post by andya »

That was my first journey in the car and it was mostly motorways but it averaged at 3.6 I have no idea if that's good or not :) I am concerned that there doesn't appear to be a normal heater as when I turned on climate control my range dropped by about 70 miles and on some journeys I can't afford to do that so do I just wrap up well :))
TheBornIDentity
Posts: 192
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2022 5:55 pm

Post by TheBornIDentity »

Not related to driving it but If you haven’t already then it might be worth looking at getting an EV electricity tariff.

It depends on your domestic use but if charging will be >50% of your electricity use it certainly worth looking into.

Intelligent Octopus gives you 6 hours at 7.5p per kWh. Might be worth delaying it until the next price drop predicted in July but you aren’t locked in (but can’t switch back to the same tariff within a month) so could switch to Octopus Go which gives 4 hours at 10p then back to Intelligent in a month.

It makes even more sense if you can switch stuff like washing machine and dishwasher to happen at the cheap rate. My average unit cost was 15p last month, which is less than half the cap rate even though my peak rate is 41p.

https://octopus.energy/smart/intelligent-octopus/

A full charge would be less than £6
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Daveion
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Post by Daveion »

andya wrote: Sat May 13, 2023 10:07 am That was my first journey in the car and it was mostly motorways but it averaged at 3.6 I have no idea if that's good or not :) I am concerned that there doesn't appear to be a normal heater as when I turned on climate control my range dropped by about 70 miles and on some journeys I can't afford to do that so do I just wrap up well :))
When you say normal heater? As it's not an ICE car there is no wasted engine heat that would normally give you that toasty climate if you want it all year round. The heater is a simple electric resistive heating element in the ventilation system or the option of a Heat Pump if you specified it. Both systems are powered by the main battery so if you want heat it will impact on range. From my ID3 thru to my Born I now dress to drive in a cooler cabin. No big deal and my long term average is still 4.1 miles/kW coming into Spring from a cold Winter.
Gone are the days where I drive in shorts and T shirt all year round.
Born V2-Tech L collected June 22
BMW Z4 e89 sDrive30i Highline
BMW Z4 e85 3.0i SE
andya
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Joined: Fri May 12, 2023 4:32 pm

Post by andya »

Thanks guys I just switched my Octopus tariff to intelligent so that's all good and as for the heater I completely forgot it's not a normal car so of course it won't have one :) I will use the app to pre heat the cabin as I don't have a heat pump on mine.
TheBornIDentity
Posts: 192
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2022 5:55 pm

Post by TheBornIDentity »

3.6 mi/kWh is pretty good for the motorway. I very rarely drive over 70 mph on the motorway as it has such a big impact on efficiency. I find with an electric car, because they are so efficient compared to an ICE car, little things have an obvious impact. Last week going south on the M5 with a headwind in rain I got 3.2. Today going north on the M5 in the dry with a tail wind I got 3.8. Rain has a fairly big impact which you’d never notice in an ICE.

I set the cabin to 19 in the winter and 20 in the summer so the climate isn’t working too hard. I’m fairly convinced the car has two resistive heaters because I had a passenger from my daily commute most of the winter and uses much less energy on days I didn’t have the passenger and that side was on ECO.

I’ve done about 8000 miles now since I got the car in July and my average is 3.6 mi/kWh.

One thing I’d advise is not to over use B mode and have the odd day without using it. The discs will rust up something chronic and if you find yourself braking hard it can feel like they have warped. I’ve found the odd day without using B mode helps stop that.
TheBornIDentity
Posts: 192
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2022 5:55 pm

Post by TheBornIDentity »

andya wrote: Sat May 13, 2023 7:29 pm Thanks guys I just switched my Octopus tariff to intelligent so that's all good and as for the heater I completely forgot it's not a normal car so of course it won't have one :) I will use the app to pre heat the cabin as I don't have a heat pump on mine.
Pre heating or pre cooling the cabin is bloody marvellous. Pre heating does gobble electricity like nobodies business, but it’s well worth it for that feeling of smug when you get into a warm defrosted car and drive straight off whilst neighbours are scraping! I’ve learned to set it so it only comes on about 10 mins before I leave. If I set the actual departure time comes on well before gobbling up even more power.

Pre cooling hardly uses any energy.
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