I wonder if BMW have implemented something in software to stop running off the battery in sub zero temps? There is a big power drain heating a car from the electric heater, and if you used that before switching to the ICE you probably wouldn’t see much electric range.

I’m sure some owners will chime in, but the fact you’re getting a message saying it’s unavailable until the car is up to temp suggests it’s by design rather than a fault?

The Golf GTE PHEV I had would always use whatever power source I asked it to, whatever the temp, but it did always default to starting in EV mode anyway.

 

Don’t forget, I have already heated the car up whilst plugged in, so the heater is not working full blast to raise the temp from freezing.

 

Hi - I have had my SE for 3 years now and I had this for the time this winter when temperatures were very low - I wonder if my car enabled this at the last service when they did routine software updates?

The first time this happened a few weeks ago, like you, I lost around 8 miles of range. On two other occasions, I was running on petrol for only about a mile before I could use electric and had 14 miles of range available.

My car is due a service later this month - I will ask about it then.

 

I think that the Mini is a very different type of PHEV to the Golf GTE and that it's designed to keep its (very) limited electric range for very particular circumstances in the cold. The GTE has greater EV range and more control is available for the driver.
With a very limited EV range it makes sense to retain it for driving rather than interior heating which is more efficiently provided from the waste heat from the ICE. Also, the Mini has its 4WD trick which is only available with EV power so reserving the battery range for that makes sense in "extreme" cold.
But none of the above justifies why the EV range is so low. I wonder if Mini are increasing the battery buffers to protect it?

 

Hello, I encountered the same problem as you, has the problem been solved? Are you waiting for the weather to warm up? I am asking the dealer to do a battery test

 

Old thread, but the 330e also gives a message if the battery is cold that ev power is reduced so the ice is more likely to start.

Preheating the cabin does not preheat the battery.

So for the 330e it is working as designed.