It suc*s not to have SOC!


Pardon my pseudo censored profanity…  But it really does suc*s not to have SOC (State of Charge).

An interesting counterpoint was published last week about the i3’s revolutionary and extremely accurate guesstimator on Insideevs.com that was well written and argues very well.  However, I still don’t buy it.

I want my SOC.  Why?  If the gauge is so accurate AND uses server based calculations to look at terrain, traffic, etc. to come up with a very good prediction of what your range will be.  I understand that the system is revolutionary and as an EVangelist and rEVolutionary I should champion this.  However, you know what they say about “fool-proof” systems and Mr. Murphy and his law…

As much as BMW will do its best to act like the NSA and track my every move and predict how I behave, it’s no skin off their teeth to hide the screens for those of us that still want this capability.  I have dedicated a preset on my Active E just to pull up said SOC (preset six, for those that want to know.) The initial range of the guessometer will be based on how the car was driven the previous X miles (30 or 40 if it uses the same as the Active E).  This will create a nice overlay on the general map of the area to give you the range in Comfort, Eco, and Eco Pro Plus modes.

All fine and dandy.  However, what if my wife was driving the vehicle the prior 30 or 40 miles.  It will predict the range based on HER driving style and not mine.

Additionally, I don’t necessarily drive the same way all the time.  If I know that I need to push the vehicle for range maximization AND if I know that I have to drive very conservatively, I will do so.  Additionally, if I was having fun the previous 30 or 40 miles AND was being very wasteful with my driving style, I don’t need to alarm whoever drives the vehicle after me.  I am sure that there is ample enough room in the i3 software to turn this feature back on to quelch the vocal early adopters of EV technology, such as the 700…  (I feel like the Spartans here…)

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