EV range anxiety is slowly becoming a thing of the past (or at least, it should be). A team of BMW employees has successfully driven a Neue Klasse iX3 from its factory in Debrecen, Hungary, to its corporate headquarters in Munich, Germany, a distance of 626 miles, on a single charge. While this isn’t the longest single-charge drive we’ve ever seen, it’s notable for surpassing the 1,000-kilometer mark, an important milestone (kilometer-stone?) in places like Europe and most of the civilized world where the metric system matters.
For comparison, the iX3 has a maximum WLTP range (the European standard) of 500 miles. Our EPA has not yet released official range figures for the iX3, but BMW estimates up to 400 miles on its website, which is still more than most drivers actually need. BMW’s 626-mile stretch easily beats the Cadillac Escalade IQ’s 558-mile run in the hands of Edmunds, despite the Cadillac having a 460-mile EPA range estimate. This is admittedly a bit of an apples-to-oranges comparison, though, since each car had different drivers on different routes. I look forward to seeing what Edmunds can do with a BMW iX3 once their drivers get their hands on one. The Cadillac’s range record may be in trouble.
How they did it
When BMW decided to push the iX3 to its range limits, the trip from the Debrecen factory, where it’s built, to Munich headquarters was appealing not just for its symbolic nature, but also for the roughly 1,000-kilometer distance between them. It would require real roads in real life, not some perfectly controlled test on a track where conditions could be artificially optimized, making it an honest evaluation. In fact, the route had one insurmountable disadvantage, a climb of 1,312 feet between Debrecen and Munich that would sap some of the range.
BMW employed some hypermiling techniques to stretch the iX3’s range as far as possible. The team avoided highways, since higher speeds mean more air resistance the car must push through, and planned a route to avoid traffic lights and braking as much as possible. Inside the car, they didn’t use the climate controls and even kept the music turned off to save power. Even then, the meticulous Germans’ calculations weren’t entirely correct. They forgot to account for using the headlights after dark, which they estimate cost them 60 watts of power. Still, the team completed the trip with just two percent of the battery remaining. No doubt the iX3 was happy to plug into a 400-kilowatt charger at the end of its journey.
This is even more proof that range estimates are exactly that, estimates. A great deal comes down to the driver. If you drive with maximum efficiency, you, too, can beat the official figures, whether you’re in an EV or an internal combustion car. If you drive like the average driver, you may see even worse range than the official estimates. Every time you enjoy an EV’s supercar acceleration, you take a few miles off the range. If you don’t need maximum range today, then go ahead and indulge yourself like Mr. Sulu. Just remember to adjust your driving style when the miles count.
