[RedJon]

We were supposed to have 3 days in Sussex (My wife and I and 3 dogs), setting off from Leamington Friday morning but due to the storm we delayed departure until the majority of the high winds were dying down. I had used ABRP extensively to plan the charging for the weekends travels.
First stop at Cobham and the IONITY chargers. Arrived at 48% but had only preheated the battery for 10 minutes and due to the cold I only got 35-37kW. Charged to 84% to get me through the next leg.
The plan was to charge on the ‘granny’ at my mothers house in Rotherfield but the storm had other ideas and the power was out when we arrived.
The next morning I decided to invoke my backup plan which was a fast charger nearby, with a McDonalds. Thoughts of breakfast in the warm (still no heating or electricity) whilst fast charging were curtailed as the power was out at the services too….
Diverted to Crowborough Lidl which a was available so did a little shopping, went to get a coffee and croissant for breakfast and charged from 49% to 98%. All very easy and good value.
The next leg of the trip was to Eastbourne, and due to the lack of electricity and heating we decided to do our last couple of visits and head back in the evening.
We set off for home about 9pm and stopped at Ionity Beaconsfield where we charged from 28% to 70% in just 23 minutes as I used the BMW nav to get to the charger so the battery preheating was automatic. The final blast back to Leamington was a breeze and went a little quicker as I had plenty of energy.done just over a 1,000 miles in total now and loving the car.
Things I’ve learned so far;
1 – I’m getting about 2.5 miles/kWh in the wet and windy winters conditions, driving about 70 mph
2 – preheating is key for fast charging
3 – powercuts and electric cars don’t go hand in hand
4 – Driver assistance is brilliant, even slows for roundabouts which I wasn’t expecting
5 – Head up display is way more useful than I expected, as is gesture control for that matter

[GDEvans]

Originally Posted by RedJon

3 – powercuts and electric cars don’t go hand in hand

Was the service station able to dispense fuel during the power cut? I suspect not!

[RedJon]

Originally Posted by GDEvans

Was the service station able to dispense fuel during the power cut? I suspect not!

No, not even food!

[ggla]

With the automatic preconditioning… does it let you know when it kicks in?

[RedJon]

Originally Posted by ggla

With the automatic preconditioning… does it let you know when it kicks in?

Annoyingly no. But strangely on the Friday I set the nav to take me to a charger and I was only 10 mins away it said the battery was cold and so did I want to turn on pre conditioning.

[hollpe]

Great write up. Thanks for sharing

[Mobeam]

Very interesting post and great pics; Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Like the look and info that is on the HUD.
Must remember to preheat before charge. Is this simply a matter of switching it on somewhere before a charge?

[RedJon]

Originally Posted by Mobeam

Must remember to preheat before charge. Is this simply a matter of switching it on somewhere before a charge?

Either by activating the app on the car or by selecting a charger in the nBMW navigation, then it will activate automatically