[RichardInCA]

I discovered a new screen recently - when you go to the live vehicle mode and clock on trip data, I can see how much regen my motors have returned to the battery for each trip. It’s pretty impressive to me - here’s a screen shot of the data from my commute home.

It’s a Bay Area highway slog with lots of stop/go traffic and a net uphill. The stats are:


Approx elevation gain ~1,000ft
Distance 27.4mi
Energy used 8.6 kWh
Efficiency 3.2 mi/kWh

From the screen below, I was able to return 3.5kWh through coasting/downhill in B mode, so effectively 3.5 x 3.2 = 11.2miles of that journey was “free”.

It also struck me that 3.5kWh of regen is pretty impressive - equivalent to the power require to run a hair dryer or a space heater for 3.5hrs.

If I conservatively assume that 15% of the time I was harvesting regen - that would mean that the regen power was 3.5 kWh / 0.1725h (15% of the journey time) = 20.3kW - which is 2x higher than an L2 charger. Neat. I’d be interested if anyone knows what the max regenerative power actually is from the motors on an i5 - my guess is that the peak is much higher than that number.

Given that my morning commute is a net elevation loss, the numbers look even better then.

[agorski]

That’s cool, but isn’t this the same data as in the MyBMW app?

[SkykingUSA]

Originally Posted by RichardInCA

It’s a Bay Area highway slog with lots of stop/go traffic and a net uphill. The stats are:

Approx elevation gain ~1,000ft
Distance 27.4mi
Energy used 8.6 kWh
Efficiency 3.2 mi/kWh

From the screen below, I was able to return 3.5kWh through coasting/downhill in B mode, so effectively 3.5 x 3.2 = 11.2miles of that journey was “free”.

Have you tried doing this same trip in different regen modes? For example, you were in B mode for this one, but how does that compare to doing the same trip in D mode with adaptive regen on? Or, in D mode with high regen on?

I'd be curious to see which one is best for that trip. I remember reading somewhere, many weeks ago in a forum that depending on where/how you drive, D mode with adaptive regen will produce more regen than B mode. I think the forum poster said to use D mode with adaptive regen for the best efficiency when highway driving at speed, but use B mode for city driving, or lots of stop-and-go driving. I wonder if that is correct, or just another opinion on a forum.

Thanks for sharing all this data, I find it really interesting too.

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by agorski

That’s cool, but isn’t this the same data as in the MyBMW app?

No, it doesn’t give you the regen in the app, just the energy used per trip.

Or if it does and I haven’t found it yet, I’d love to know.

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by SkykingUSA

Have you tried doing this same trip in different regen modes? For example, you were in B mode for this one, but how does that compare to doing the same trip in D mode with adaptive regen on? Or, in D mode with high regen on?

I'd be curious to see which one is best for that trip. I remember reading somewhere, many weeks ago in a forum that depending on where/how you drive, D mode with adaptive regen will produce more regen than B mode. I think the forum poster said to use D mode with adaptive regen for the best efficiency when highway driving at speed, but use B mode for city driving, or lots of stop-and-go driving. I wonder if that is correct, or just another opinion on a forum.

Thanks for sharing all this data, I find it really interesting too.

I did try it in D mode a while ago, but hadn’t found the regen data then, so only looked at energy consumption, which was about the same. I will try it again though.

[note46]

Is this Sunol grade? or Altamont? My daily commute used to be on 680 from east bay to san jose.

[deutsch100]

This is fascinating, impressive, super cool and just really great. Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

I have now had several i3S, iX, i4 and now this i5 and BMW battery efficiency and range is beyond and above amazing!!!!

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by note46

Is this Sunol grade? or Altamont? My daily commute used to be on 680 from east bay to san jose.

No - South SF near SFO over the bay bridge and up and through the Caldecott tunnel.

[RichardInCA]

Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic of that regen on my reverse commute this morning, I think it was actually somewhat similar ~3.3kWh? But the total energy consumption is much lower (reflecting the “downhill” nature of the reverse direction). I’ll try to do a “drive in D” comparison next.

[note46]

Originally Posted by RichardInCA

No - South SF near SFO over the bay bridge and up and through the Caldecott tunnel.

I did that commute for 4 year as well. They both suck but that's the bay area.

[ando]

Thanks for highlighting this. I found it and tried it today!

[ando]

The car infographic is fun to look at too!

It animated just about every light and movement except the wipers …

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by ando

The car infographic is fun to look at too!

It animated just about every light and movement except the wipers …

I like the smaller version in “Adaptive” mode that you can superpose on the nav view. It shows you when you’re brake lights are activated with regen.

[RichardInCA]

Updating this thread with some more data. I have been tracking my journey into the office as well - to be honest it’s slightly less variable than the journey home due to traffic. I compared B mode, with D (adaptive) mode. I didn’t bother trying to turn down the regen on D, perhaps I will for another round of comparisons.

Elevation change ~1,000ft net loss
Distance ~28miles
Efficiency: 4.0-4.5 mi/kWh (B) 4.2-4.3 mi/kWh (D adaptive)
Regen: 3.0-3.7 kWh (B) 2.5 - 2.9 kWh (D adaptive)
Consumption: 6.3-6.7 kWh (B) 6.5.-7 kWh (D adaptive)

It took me a bit of time to adapt to D adaptive….sometimes it wants to coast other times the regen kicks in to slow you down for a car that moves in front or if you coast so enthusiastically downhill that it decides you’re about to go substantially over the speed limit. I started to adapt to that, but overall I think B is still better - I like the modulation I can get of my speed by just lifting off a little to adapt to traffic.

[SkykingUSA]

That's really interesting and thanks for taking the time to do that. I want to do something similar with my trip to the tennis courts which are about 11 miles away from home. I just looked at the trip there and then back yesterday in D adaptive mode. Going to the courts is an overall downhill trip so I got 4.1 mi/kWh with an average speed of 18.6 mph (no freeway). However, on the way home, it's net uphill so I got 3 mi/kWh with an average speed of 36.2 mph.

I'm going to try a couple of different routes to see if the numbers have any significant variance. Then, after that I'll probably try using D mode to compare.

[Scrapula]

It is cool. My downhill trips are 7.6 and will try D vs B as well.

[RichardInCA]

Yeah for the avoidance of doubt the trips are “net” downhill or “net” uphill - there are climbs and descents either way.

[Scrapula]

Now MyBMW app isn’t showing all my trips. My first test is a no go.

[Roki_014]

is there a way to change brake regen from 2 to 1 line, i know B puts it into 3 , its too jerky for passengers at 2 bars ?
thank you

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by Roki_014

is there a way to change brake regen from 2 to 1 line, i know B puts it into 3 , its too jerky for passengers at 2 bars ?
thank you

You can adjust the D mode to have low/med/high regen - that might be the best bet. I find that I’ve completely adjusted to B so modulating the throttle pedal blends in more or less regen. I only lift my foot off if I need to really slow down.

[Roki_014]

Originally Posted by RichardInCA

You can adjust the D mode to have low/med/high regen - that might be the best bet. I find that I’ve completely adjusted to B so modulating the throttle pedal blends in more or less regen. I only lift my foot off if I need to really slow down.

where do you adjust it ?/
thank you

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by Roki_014

where do you adjust it ?/
thank you

Here you go: