Stupid questions from a newbie!

[Davem27]

Hi all! Been reading this forum and it’s a wealth of information! Thank you all!
I ordered a M3LR on a whim as a company car and due delivery in December! Very excited as they are beautiful cars and I loved the test drive!
However, I am nervous! I do about 30k miles per year whereas I see most people only do low mileage! Have I been stupid getting this car for so many miles? I have a 7kw charger at home and work, so I’m fine for that. But I feel suddenly nervous! I also go away for work a fair bit and leave my car parked up for a few weeks in an airport car park. Will it run down? I know this may be stupid but I have never even had a hybrid so it’s a huge leap for me! Haha!

 

[Medved_77]

Don't think you've bought the wrong car at all. Probably hard to compare mileage against other users at present but I don't see why 30k would be unusual although you may need a new set of tyres each year.

This guy is US based but think he's done similar miles per year as you're expecting and a lot of his videos focus on the cars durability and the maintenance he's had to do (not much) :

https://www.youtube.com/c/TechForumTesla

WRT leaving your car for long period, budget to lose 1% of battery per day (although most likely less). Turn Sentry mode off and don't be tempted to keep checking up on it via the app and the car will enter a deep sleep.

Hope this helps and let us know if you have any more (perfectly reasonable) questions.

 

[Jason71]

Agree with above 1% max per day if you leave sentry off and don't keep checking the app.

It's not the miles per year that counts its the miles per day. Pre lockdown I was on 20k per year but almost never more than 200miles per day so all charging was at night so less trouble than an ICE. If you do a lot of 250+ mile journeys so have to charge on the road it will be less convenient than ICE right now. How much depends on where you live and where you drive. Biggest issue I have with supercharging is usually that I don't have enough time for a toilet break and a coffee before the app is ordering me back to the car!
Luckily you will get the new 82kwh battery so that will give you an extra 5 minutes

 

[Country Boy]

I bought the Ioniq over 2 years ago, which had a range of 140 miles on a good day. Planned to use it as a second car and run around.

Well after the first week, the Diseaseal stayed in the house and we used the ionic for everything. Drove it all around the country without the benefit of the the supercharger network.

These days it is not the range of the car that limits me, but my bladder range!

Now in the M3, I just set off without a care as there are so many different places to charge.

 

[Davem27]

My commute is about 75 miles per day, so there is no real issue with that. I suppose I am more concerned with battery degradation and build quality over the 3 years I have it! 1% loss is good at airport. I thought it would be more than that! So as for charging, do people charge between 10% to 80% or upto 100% regularly?

 

[Mr H]

The easiest way to degrade the battery is to charge to 100% and let it sit there, you should only use that extra for longer trips. Lots of DC fast charging can also hurt the battery, if you can AC charge most of the time then that is the way to go. My commute is less than 10 miles so i charge to 70% usually once or twice a week. When your car arrives just set the range from distance to energy and just enjoy the car.

With a 75 mile commute in a LR i'd be charging to 70% each day unless the extra range is needed.

 

[m3gt2]

Hi all! Been reading this forum and it’s a wealth of information! Thank you all!
I ordered a M3LR on a whim as a company car and due delivery in December! Very excited as they are beautiful cars and I loved the test drive!
However, I am nervous! I do about 30k miles per year whereas I see most people only do low mileage! Have I been stupid getting this car for so many miles? I have a 7kw charger at home and work, so I’m fine for that. But I feel suddenly nervous! I also go away for work a fair bit and leave my car parked up for a few weeks in an airport car park. Will it run down? I know this may be stupid but I have never even had a hybrid so it’s a huge leap for me! Haha!

Don't worry, I've done over 37k in mine in just over a year, but I'd say 30k was in the first 4 months before Covid hit otherwise it'd realistically be on 100k by now, also to put your mind at ease even more I only had the granny charger during that period! You will feel range anxiety to start with our will quickly learn it's a nonissue and love the car

 

[Davem27]

Wow, that’s some mileage! That makes me feel much better! Very much looking forward to getting the car and my logical mind says all will be fine really. I just get a wave of doubt every now and then!

 

[exlatccatsa]

There are no stupid questions Dave. You are about to embark on a change of lifestyle and basically go back to school for the next year or so. There are hundreds of thousands of us driving M3's now and most answers are online. But I've found the members here are very knowlegeable and helpful even with the little things. Don't worry about asking questions.

 

[Joelly]

Agree with most comments above, I see 30k miles as a huge opportunity and makes this the best car you can have, albeit if you’re regularly doing 250+miles in a single trip then it may require more gentle driving. Charge to 90% and you’ll be fine, avoid 100% as much as possible, 95% should be fine if you’re needing that extra. I experience about 1% battery loss per week parked at home with sentry off, about 1% an hour with sentry on. You won’t have any serious issues with degradation or build quality in the 3 years you have it.
I think you’re doing the right thing by skipping the hybrid.

 

[Jeeves]

Airport parking drain video.

 

[Durzel]

You’ll have no problems at all with charging at home and at work. Frankly 75 miles commute you could charge at one end each day, maybe even every other day, with no issue.

 

[Davem27]

Thanks for all the useful comments. I did wonder if it’s best to charge every day or leave it a day in between. Does anyone think it can affect the battery either way? I know I’m probably overthinking it, but that’s what happens when you wait so long for a car!!

 

[Adopado]

My commute is about 75 miles per day, so there is no real issue with that. I suppose I am more concerned with battery degradation and build quality over the 3 years I have it! 1% loss is good at airport. I thought it would be more than that! So as for charging, do people charge between 10% to 80% or upto 100% regularly?

Looks like you will have a great opportunity to optimise your charging to keep the battery pack within it's mid level ... which is ideal for battery longevity. If you have home/work charging just make it a habit to routinely plug in ... it takes seconds. You can set the charge level in the car so it will not charge higher than you want no matter how long it's plugged in. Regular charging is best to be 90% or less ... if you can do 80% or less then even better. This doesn't mean that your battery falls apart if you charge to 100% ... if you need to do this occasionally that's fine. Being plugged in at home gives you the opportunity to warm the car on winter mornings before leaving (switch on via the app). This improves your range because you won't waste battery energy warming the car ... it's also a luxurious and welcome bonus to get into a warm car! Significant battery degradation is not looking like a major issue so far.

Look into cheap off peak EV charging options. Octopus "Go" gives you 4 hour of electricity at 5p per kWh ... you'll be saving money hand over fist! If you use a referral code from someone you get £50 in your account .. as does the person giving you the code. Check out our signatures for those who are offering referrals.

 

[Drew57]

As far as leaving the car parked up, I generally experience 1% per night if I open the app next morning but recently left the car parked for 2 weeks without Sentry or checking the app & was pleasantly surprised to see only a 2% drop. It goes into a deep sleep so I would expect two or three weeks in a hotel car park from around 90% should be fine, even in cold weather where battery drain will be greater.

 

[Derek_J]

Thanks for all the useful comments. I did wonder if it’s best to charge every day or leave it a day in between. Does anyone think it can affect the battery either way? I know I’m probably overthinking it, but that’s what happens when you wait so long for a car!!

EV batteries are not as delicate as you might think. So long as they are not left for long periods either fully charged, or fully discharged they are fine.
Just get into the habit of plugging it in every time you get home, and then you are unlikely to wake up to a car with insufficient range for your commute. Plugging in takes just seconds if you have a wall charge point with a tethered lead.

The charging set up screen allows you to set the charge level you desire. It will stop charging when it reaches that level so you will not overcharge the battery.

 

[mrobins64495]

I’ve done about 5000 miles in 2 month which is a tad more than I expected.

I charge to 90% a night, travel 140 miles a day or so. Not had one issue tho. Cold weather is doing a little with the range. ~5% or so.

 

[NewbieT]

The advice is keep it plugged in at home if you can. I only do about 50% of the time. In Winter this does give you the advantage of pre- heating the cabin and battery from the mains.

 

[Wol747]

All good advice.
I was experiencing over 20Km/day vampire drain and last week uninstalled TezLab from my phone - the drain now is 1 or 2 Km/day. Anything that wakes the thing up starts the whole shebang going and it will get through the Kwh quite smartly.
Make sure you select sentry mode off at home and also work if you feel that's a good idea - it also uses a lot of energy.
I've just started only charging to 70% - it's easy to reset it to more if I might use it for a long trip the next day.

 

[Rob R]

You have

Hi all! Been reading this forum and it’s a wealth of information! Thank you all!
I ordered a M3LR on a whim as a company car and due delivery in December! Very excited as they are beautiful cars and I loved the test drive!
However, I am nervous! I do about 30k miles per year whereas I see most people only do low mileage! Have I been stupid getting this car for so many miles? I have a 7kw charger at home and work, so I’m fine for that. But I feel suddenly nervous! I also go away for work a fair bit and leave my car parked up for a few weeks in an airport car park. Will it run down? I know this may be stupid but I have never even had a hybrid so it’s a huge leap for me! Haha!

You have leased the very best electric car you could have leased. I drove mine from Scotland to southern Spain and back and it never missed a beat. The supercharger network is super reliable (after 16 months I have never failed to get on a charger straight away, and never had one fail to work). Cannot say this for other networks.
If pressed for time, remember you can supercharge quicker from near zero to 80% than from 80% to 100%, and most of that speed is below 50%.
The range (and yours will be longer than mine) already matches or exceeds my bladder range.