BMW 330e ordered...

[Rockhoppin]

Rockhoppin said:

Gb908010 said:

Really ?!!!!
I have just resubmitted my 330e order so I hope these changes don't come into effect within the next 3 years. I have signed the petition but will also contact my local MP if this does happen

Hi there Gb I'm in the same boat too. carbuyer have just released this news. http://www.carbuyer.co.uk/news/155399/company-car-... Thanks for signing I'm hoping to get some momentum to show UKGOV that we're against the continuous financial increases for drivers. Please forward to anyone who could be effected.

You'll enjoy the 330e it's a great motor!

Sorry still getting to grips with posting. Here's the link for anyone else who'd like to be heard. I'm sure there's a few of us reading this thread.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/171523

Edited by Rockhoppin on Wednesday 9th November 21:50

[Rockhoppin]

caseys said:

Funkydunc said:

I am currently trying to get answers from BMW UK, however to me there appears to be a flaw with the cars software that it doesn't recognise a route with 2 stops as one journey, therefore it is seeing work as the destination and using the battery to its full to get me to work, and leaving none for getting home, even though it as home as destination 2 in the sat nav.

Have you looked into the ability to plan a route via Google Maps and push it to the car? See here : http://www.bmw.com/com/en/owners/connected_drive_s... under the My Info / Send to Car section:

bmw said:

Planning your journey with Google Maps? Then simply send your destination directly from Google Maps to your BMW, where it can be entered into the navigation system for route guidance. In this way, you can fully concentrate on driving while you’re on the road.

I'm waiting to test this myself - my car turns up on Tuesday.

Rockhoppin said:

I'm very concerned about the government's proposals to increase the car tax on company car and salary sacrifice drivers. UKGOV coaxed me into purchasing due to the grant and low BIK tax. This is due to change very soon and will hit EV and Hybrid drivers big in the pocket. Read the article and if you want to object sign the petition. Launched today and needs signatures to get it recognised with UKGOV. Please share with all other Co and salary sacrifice drivers they need to be aware! https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/171523

It's been discussed a bit before... here... somewhere

The main thing is the consultation was about impacts to Salary Sacrifice schemes - and consultation period ended 19th October, but no announcement of feedback from that period has yet been given. See the consultation document here : https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

There weren't any mentions of increase in BIK tax itself but more about what BIKs will get the salary sacrifice (removal of NI contributions) to the benefit - company car schemes being one of them. So, if you're paying BIK on a company car but are not doing it through a Salary Sacrifice scheme where you save via NI contributions - this won't impact you. So the government may see it as the EV/PHEV/BEV type vehicles with low CO2 are still seeing the best BIK rate, just that you're not going to benefit via SS schemes anymore. Ditto for other schemes like mobile phones, bikes etc.

Thanks for the detail. I believed this to be case. However, I've read (in the press) that the government may include individuals that are given a car allowance, which if that's the case it will effect many drivers. I guess we'll soon find out a few weeks to go before the announcement.

[slugelise]

FIrst trip to work today, 17 miles. 128mpg on the way there, mixture of urban, motorway and a roads. Battery was dead when i got there though. Came back the same 17 miles in stop start traffic, despite no battery still managed 42% on electric but only 33 mpg. Still - 80mpg for the day. If I can get a charger installed at work then its going to be very cheap motoring.

[Mcpaynter]

Rockhoppin said:

Thanks for the detail. I believed this to be case. However, I've read (in the press) that the government may include individuals that are given a car allowance, which if that's the case it will effect many drivers. I guess we'll soon find out a few weeks to go before the announcement.

Will be interesting to see how this works for company car drivers that are forced to take a car with no cash option available

Like me lol. Our company scheme is that the role is expected to cover 10k business miles pa minimum and as such a company car is provided, although we choose whatever car we want within given CO2/list price. No formal amount is actually mentioned, so when I ordered mine all I was ever given was quotes on the car and whether any trade up was payable.

So in essence I'm not receiving a car allowance nor am I sacrificing salary...unless these rules come into effect and the company decides to just disclose the value of "allowance" for a base car

[The Mad Monk]

slugelise said:

FIrst trip to work today, 17 miles. 128mpg on the way there, mixture of urban, motorway and a roads. Battery was dead when i got there though. Came back the same 17 miles in stop start traffic, despite no battery still managed 42% on electric but only 33 mpg. Still - 80mpg for the day. If I can get a charger installed at work then its going to be very cheap motoring.

Pedant Corner.

80mpg? I don't think so.

Outward journey 17 miles @ 128mpg = 0.133 galls used
Return journey 17 miles @ 33mpg = 0.515 galls used
Total fuel used for 34 miles = 0.648 galls = 52.47mpg.

E&OE

[Funkydunc]

slugelise said:

FIrst trip to work today, 17 miles. 128mpg on the way there, mixture of urban, motorway and a roads. Battery was dead when i got there though. Came back the same 17 miles in stop start traffic, despite no battery still managed 42% on electric but only 33 mpg. Still - 80mpg for the day. If I can get a charger installed at work then its going to be very cheap motoring.

Were you using the Sat Nav for routing? This is my main concern with the car that it doesn't actually 'intelligently' use the battery. It appears to use as much battery as possible until it gets down to about 22% and then considers using the engine more, which is pretty stupid if the journey is still the same distance to go. To me it is a complete software programming error.

In reality the Sat Nav adds no benefit.

When I spoke to BMW UK their advice was to try all the different modes to see which worked best! They even recommend driving in Sports + to extend the battery range !

So duly I did. This made the car average about 20mpg....

So far I think the total mpg I am getting is about 40-45mpg. If it wasn't for the weekend short journeys using battery only then it would be way lower. Of course though this doesn't factor in the cost of electricity, which I would make it even worse....

[Funkydunc]

[quote=Rockhoppin]NEW TAX CHARGES FOR CO CAR AND SALARY SACRIFICE DRIVERS 330E COULD COST YOU MORE....

Hi all first time posting but been reading this thread since it started! I'm a company car driver and drive the 330e have done since June and put 11k on the clock already. Thanks for all the great insight.

I'm very concerned about the government's proposals to increase the car tax on company car and salary sacrifice drivers. UKGOV coaxed me into purchasing due to the grant and low BIK tax. This is due to change very soon and will hit EV and Hybrid drivers big in the pocket. Read the article and if you want to object sign the petition. Launched today and needs signatures to get it recognised with UKGOV. Please share with all other Co and salary sacrifice drivers they need to be aware! https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/171523

it would only apply to new agreements not existing. It is always going to be the case that tax will increase on these vehicles. Current taxation is low to incentivise people in to hybrid technology. Pretty stupid petition really.

[slugelise]

I think that only works in eco pro mode? and the default is comfort so you have to switch it every time you start the car.

i'll see how i get on with a full week of driving next week and the average mpg for the 34 mile commute (avoiding schoolboy errors on hte combined mpg calculation)

Funkydunc said:

Were you using the Sat Nav for routing? This is my main concern with the car that it doesn't actually 'intelligently' use the battery. It appears to use as much battery as possible until it gets down to about 22% and then considers using the engine more, which is pretty stupid if the journey is still the same distance to go. To me it is a complete software programming error.

In reality the Sat Nav adds no benefit.

When I spoke to BMW UK their advice was to try all the different modes to see which worked best! They even recommend driving in Sports + to extend the battery range !

So duly I did. This made the car average about 20mpg....

So far I think the total mpg I am getting is about 40-45mpg. If it wasn't for the weekend short journeys using battery only then it would be way lower. Of course though this doesn't factor in the cost of electricity, which I would make it even worse....

[Gb908010]

Rockhoppin said:

Hi there Gb I'm in the same boat too. carbuyer have just released this news. http://www.carbuyer.co.uk/news/155399/company-car-... Thanks for signing I'm hoping to get some momentum to show UKGOV that we're against the continuous financial increases for drivers. Please forward to anyone who could be effected.

You'll enjoy the 330e it's a great motor!

I've just read the article and it might only affect the salary sacrifice scheme so safe at the moment. Will keep my eye on it,cheers.

[kshuker]

The Mad Monk said:

slugelise said:

FIrst trip to work today, 17 miles. 128mpg on the way there, mixture of urban, motorway and a roads. Battery was dead when i got there though. Came back the same 17 miles in stop start traffic, despite no battery still managed 42% on electric but only 33 mpg. Still - 80mpg for the day. If I can get a charger installed at work then its going to be very cheap motoring.

Pedant Corner.

80mpg? I don't think so.

Outward journey 17 miles @ 128mpg = 0.133 galls used
Return journey 17 miles @ 33mpg = 0.515 galls used
Total fuel used for 34 miles = 0.648 galls = 52.47mpg.

E&OE

I like a nice bit of pedantry, but not sure this is correct, so I'll raise you... :-)

Although the calculations might be right, the assumption that 0.133 galls used on the outward journey isn't. Because the electric motor was primarily used, we don't know how much fuel was actually used, so this can't be a factor in working the average. Therefore the OP is probably closer to actual average I reckon.

On a personal note, I'm expecting my 330e in March and I can't wait!

[The Mad Monk]

kshuker said:

The Mad Monk said:

slugelise said:

FIrst trip to work today, 17 miles. 128mpg on the way there, mixture of urban, motorway and a roads. Battery was dead when i got there though. Came back the same 17 miles in stop start traffic, despite no battery still managed 42% on electric but only 33 mpg. Still - 80mpg for the day. If I can get a charger installed at work then its going to be very cheap motoring.

Pedant Corner.

80mpg? I don't think so.

Outward journey 17 miles @ 128mpg = 0.133 galls used
Return journey 17 miles @ 33mpg = 0.515 galls used
Total fuel used for 34 miles = 0.648 galls = 52.47mpg.

E&OE

I like a nice bit of pedantry, but not sure this is correct, so I'll raise you... :-)

Although the calculations might be right, the assumption that 0.133 galls used on the outward journey isn't. Because the electric motor was primarily used, we don't know how much fuel was actually used, so this can't be a factor in working the average. Therefore the OP is probably closer to actual average I reckon.

On a personal note, I'm expecting my 330e in March and I can't wait!

So where did he get the figure of 128mpg from?

Perhaps everybody, including the mpg calculator thingy is wrong?

[slugelise]

The 128mpg came from the bmw phone app which lists data for the last journey. I assume it quotes fuel used versus miles travelled, so theoretically it should read infinite on all all electric journey. That's a test for tomorrow.

I erroneously averaged 128 and 34 to get 80, i think the 52 figure is a more accurate reflection.

It would be nice if the app provided a history of journeys and an overall average, I'll check what the trip computer gives.

The Mad Monk said:

So where did he get the figure of 128mpg from?

Perhaps everybody, including the mpg calculator thingy is wrong?

[slugelise]

330e Luxury in black with venetian leather, not many of these about. most people seem to be getting the m sport

[The Mad Monk]

slugelise said:

330e Luxury in black with venetian leather, not many of these about. most people seem to be getting the m sport

It looks v. nice.

What is Venetian leather? When I have been to Venice, I didn't notice many cows grazing in the canals!

[Gb908010]

My main reason for the 330e was the Bik savings, I have to pay for my own fuel and then claim it back at 13p a mile. After the test drive covering 300 miles I can happily say I'll break even or make a couple a Quid so I'm a happy bunny.
Plus my test drive was an extreme test drive as I had 5 in the car and 50% country roads and not motorways like I normally cover.

[Funkydunc]

Have you looked into the ability to plan a route via Google Maps and push it to the car? See here : http://www.bmw.com/com/en/owners/connected_drive_s... under the My Info / Send to Car section:

Just tried it now. It only allows you to send a single destination unfortunately.

[slugelise]

Its a colour - Venetian Beige with Dark Oyster Dakota Leather, Black world

basically the cheaper beige leather, you can have the softer merino leather for another £1250!

The Mad Monk said:

It looks v. nice.

What is Venetian leather? When I have been to Venice, I didn't notice many cows grazing in the canals!

[slugelise]

I've downloaded home and work - will give it a go on Monday. Busy wiring an outside socket to charge it today.

Funkydunc said:

Have you looked into the ability to plan a route via Google Maps and push it to the car? See here : http://www.bmw.com/com/en/owners/connected_drive_s... under the My Info / Send to Car section:

Just tried it now. It only allows you to send a single destination unfortunately.

[slugelise]

£20 outdoor 13A socket from screwfix

[Pjohnsp0407]

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&a...

Does this method work to allow multiple destinations?

Waiting delivery of my 330e so keen to know a solution to this as only order business navigation