Cold-weather testing is an important thing for EVs, since battery-powered cars traditionally haven't done well when the temperatures drop. While new chemistries and more advanced active thermal management systems have helped a lot, anyone who's been doing the EV thing for a while will probably find themselves thinking twice before heading out for a long drive on a cold day.
For me, my favorite cold drives are up to Vermont. I live not too far over the border in Upstate New York, but everything just feels a little bit different, a little bit nicer when you cross into the Green Mountains.
That's especially true in the winter months. I try to make day trips to Southern VT as often as possible to spend the morning getting first tracks at the Mt. Snow ski resort. It's roughly a 75-mile run that takes me 90 minutes if I don't catch too many school buses or snow plows along the way, and it's a good mix of road types. There's a little bit of highway, a fair bit of high-speed secondary roads and no shortage of winding mountain passes, too.
In other words, it's an excellent route for testing cars of all sorts, including our long-term 2024 BMW iX.
Gallery: BMW iX Long-Term Test
Pre-Charged
I'd hoped to bring the iX over for a day on the slopes earlier this winter, but as I noted in the last update, an unexpected failure to charge left me without enough juice to make it. An update on that situation: Our iX is still occasionally falling back to time slot mode when we plug it in, but a BMW representative contacted me after we published our last update, and they're looking into it.
To be safe, this time, the night before, I made doubly sure that the iX was not only plugged in but was actually charging. That morning, as I loaded up my gear, it was sitting at 90 percent, right where I wanted it.
That alone shows my confidence in the iX: I was heading on a lengthy drive in winter conditions, and I didn't feel the need to charge the thing fully.
I folded the right seat down and placed my snowboard on top, bindings down, then buckled the seatbelt across it to hold it in place. It didn't move an inch for the duration of the drive despite the twists and turns along the way.
My route started with a bit of highway time, driving right into the morning sun. I have a few pairs of sunglasses that the Driving Assistance Pro driver-monitoring camera doesn't like. I wasn't wearing any of those that morning, but the system was still having a hard time spotting my eyes through the glasses. I figure it was the extra glare from the sunrise.
I was left either squinting with the assistance system on or driving hands-on the whole way. I kept my hands on the wheel.
The Drive Over
That was the only minor glitch on the way over. The iX was comfortable and quiet when I was stuck with morning commuters queueing up the hill in Troy, NY. The BMW's strong power and throttle response made quick passes on two-lane roads a breeze when things opened up.
I got there with plenty of time before the lifts started turning, and with reasonable efficiency despite using climate control and having fun on the drive over. And, again, that range prediction was spot on. When I pulled out of the garage, the car said I'd get to Mt. Snow with 55 percent remaining. Lo and behold, 75 miles later, the car indicated 55 percent remaining. That's despite an ambient temperature of less than 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
Those cold temps meant for some crisp conditions on the trails in the morning, though some warmer weather the weeks before meant only a handful of trails were open at Mt. Snow. Still, I had a great morning on what was sadly only the second and final time I'd managed to get out there this season. My travel schedule and adding a new puppy to the family has conspired to keep me away from the slopes.
When it was time to start thinking about heading back, on my last ride up the lift, I pulled up the My BMW app and told the car to start preconditioning itself. While we initially found remote requests like climate control to be pretty hit-or-miss, the car's been far more reliable in responding to requests from the app lately.
I was parked right at the base of the trail, which meant I could step out of my bindings and straight into a pleasantly warm cabin. The back seat of the iX proved plenty roomy for me to get myself out of my boots and other gear without having to contort myself too much.
Returning Home
Board strapped in the back, various thermal layers scattered around the rest of the interior, I headed back down the mountain for the return trip home. As I'd only used 35 percent of the battery on the way there, and as the car was predicting 26 percent remaining when I got home, I was even more unrestrained with the throttle.
The roads were in good condition, with no ice or snow to be seen, but they were still quite dirty in spots. The worst of the winter salt and sand had not fully washed off. But the iX is nicely balanced for such a big thing, and those Nokian Remedy WRG5 tires still deliver good grip in all conditions.
Again using the integrated Nav, I took a slightly shorter route on the way back, which shaved about five miles off the trip. That, plus slightly warmer temperatures (up over 34 degrees) and more time spent going downhill meant just 32 percent consumption for the return.
That's the good news. The only slight disappointment was that the BMW's range prediction was way off. It predicted 26 percent remaining when I returned home. In reality, I had 32 percent.
That's about the biggest range estimation miss I've noticed from iDrive's integrated nav, which is saying something in and of itself. A six-percent miss would be considered a win in most other cars. Also, if my EV is going to be off by six percent, I want it to be off in that way.
The nearly 150-mile round trip, mostly in sub- or near-freezing temperatures, used 58 percent of the battery, a consumption of 2.8 mi/kWh, giving me an extremely comfortable window. There's still not much of a charging network in Vermont, but I didn't even think twice about it.
But the snow is well and truly gone now, so it's time for more temperate excursions. That, plus further explorations about how the iX is faring for puppy-hauling duty, coming next time.
