u/MyUrbanCar

Worth watching if you are mulling between these 2 excellent cars.

https://youtu.be/E9xNMXKwJvg?si=4Z-maClmsZRfiMp5

in the comments What Car asks

”If you were driving 600 miles tomorrow, which of these electric SUVs would you take?“

my response is here. Hope it and the video is useful

A) BMW iX3 (It has a longer range & faster charger!) ️
B) Tesla Model Y (The Supercharger prices and software are still unbeatable!)

Interesting question. Excellent video by the way.

As a Tesla Model 3 owner since 2019 (2019 Performance minus and dual motor Highland) who will pick up a BMW iX3 later this month it sounds like I’ve made my decision BUT

1. For a new owner still inexperienced with EV’s I would still recommend the Tesla. As you illustrated in the video, the Tesla teaches you how to easily resolve issues in an electric car and makes trip planning super easy. I’ve been to Italy 3 times with my Teslas and and 2 trips tp ski resorts in the Alps with no bother at all. The Model 3 is amazingly efficient (just over 4.5 miles per kWh on a London to near Swanage in Dorset and back at 18C yesterday and 4.28 average over 18,000 miles!). The Model Y is less efficient but still exceptional for a car of its size.
2. Now that I am an experienced EV driver who provides information for other others the MyUrbanCar website, I’m confident the iX3 will be even better. As a balance of range and charge time on both 800 and 400v chargers it is tour de force. One of the first tests I plan to do in the iX3 is London to Inverness with a single 15 minute charge stop. I will need a lot more biological stops than the car. It’s frankly mind blowing that the longest range tests in battery electric cars now easily exceed the furthest you can travel in the UK except in a single north south direction!

The BMW is obviously less efficient esp at high speed. However, one good side of the enormous range is you really can pick the fastest and best value chargers at your leisure within your journey rather than being stuck with that Gridserve price. The Ionity pass takes you to roughly the Tesla price and quite a few networks inc Tesla allow the BMW to hoover up off peak power at a much lower price when you can. It’s worth noting the BMW also lets you choose your preferred networks via the phone app. This means you’ll only be offered expensive networks when you really really have to. Also worth noting that Tesla has got a bit stuck with their battery and charging technology. My Highland model 3 is actually slower at charging than my original 2019 model and takes around 34 or 35 minutes for a 10 to 80% charge. That’s a long way off the pace these days and bordering on poor. It’s one of the reasons I think Tesla Routeplanner suggests lots of quick short stops to distract from the very poor charging performance above 40% battery SOC.. It’s worth remembering though that more stops mean more diversions off your route that all add a lot of additional time and miles to your journey that isn’t actual charging.

in case anyone missed it, there is also a little extra nugget of information in this video. While the BMW is less efficient with the power that’s in the battery it is more efficient at transferring power from a charger into its battery. In the BMW 94.1% of the power you pay for ends up in the car. By contrast the Tesla loses far more with only 87.5% reaching the battery. That’s quite a difference. The BMW is still less efficient driving at higher speeds, but I suspect on a and B roads the BMW will be pretty much level pegging,

I have my own initial review of the IX3 at MyUrbanCar and will be adding road trip and owner tips over the coming year.

all made with AI.

NO car, no crew, no beard