Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveinArizona
It looks like you are not the right candidate for a 530e. Sounds like you have a longish commute. As I noted above, weather a 530e makes sense depends upon your driving situation. Because the battery capacity is so small, I never charge outside of my house and charge in my house other than during the 3-8 PM high cost time.
The car does default to using the electric motor a lot, especially if you are doing urban driving. But once you "deplete" the battery you have not really depleted it. There is still capacity left for boost so you are essentially driving a regular hybrid.
Ultimately, it is good that we have so many choices in cars. For some, pure electrics work great; for others...hybrids; for most regular ICE cars, some configured for fuel economy and some for performance, etc.
Enjoy yours.
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That would be a 15 minute commute each way for a round trip of 30 minutes. Assuming you don't have a free charger at work you would come home with a dead battery every day especially if you drive 5 minutes to lunch each way. Both the 10 minute and 5 minute estimates are likely below average times for anyone using a car who does not work from home. In addition to this any weekend trip to go play golf, visit friends and family etc. is again going to deplete the battery and a road trip is a joke.
This is NOT how the BMW sales department sells the vehicle. When I originally confronted them about my observations two different dealerships told me that my car must be defective. However both service department managers at the dealerships said - "no this is how the car works - the sales department just plays dumb so they don't lose the sale".
These were AutoNation dealerships (Encinitas). When I called BMW-NA they said "we don't get involved in dealership issues" after 3 days of internal escalations.
