The idea of driving an electric car once sounded unrealistic and unimaginable, but times have changed and the ease of using such vehicles is becoming almost as easy as driving a normal gas-powered car. The thought of having to charge your car, or find somewhere to charge it, seems like it would take too much time and hassle. But don’t worry, this concern is a thing of the past, as more and more governments are promoting electric vehicles and installing new charge points giving you the flexibility to choose where you charge. There are even apps like PlugShare or ChargeHub that show public car charging points in North America and Europe.
How to Charge a BMW i3 or i8
- All BMW i3s come equipped with ConnectDrive and BMW navigation as standard so you’ll be able to view the charging points as ‘Points of Interest’ on the navigation system. In many cases, you’ll be able to see whether those points are available to use or already in use.
- When you rent a BMW i3 from Sixt it will come with a specific charging cable so you can use the public charging points. An innovative charging concept provides for a new dimension of electro-mobility: the BMW i3 can not only be charged quickly, easily, and conveniently at home using the wall box or the charging cable, it can also be charged on the go. Charging is easy; simply connect the cable from the wall box or public charging box and then into the car charging point located where the gas cap would normally be.
- In addition, the unique BMW i Remote app for the i8 and i3 models shows range display, battery and charging level, service messages or vehicle location. The BMW i Remote App supplies you with detailed information on the current status of your BMW i3 at all time.
How to Charge a Tesla Model S
This original Tesla model is available with a 75 or 100 kWh battery. Depending on which battery you have, under real-world driving circumstances you can go between 243 and 304 miles on a charge. While that is admirable, you will likely need to find a charging station on a road trip, and it’s important to know how to charge properly so you can get back on the road faster.
- The Model S uses the Type 2 charging standard, which comes in slow, fast, and rapidly charged options depending on the network you are recharging on and the type of charging unit.
- You can find the charging point toward the back of the vehicle near the tail lights, about where a normal gas tank port would be. You simply plug the connector from the charging station into the inlet and the car and charging station do the rest.
- If you are using a public charging station, you will need an RFID card or a smartphone app in order to charge your car there. This will either be linked to your bank account for payment, or some newer versions have contactless payment.
- Charging on a supercharger will take roughly 40 minutes to get your vehicle from 0-80% charged, a fast portal takes between 3.5-11 hours to get to 100%. The slowest portal takes about 25 hours to get to 100%. Keep in mind that these times assume you are starting at 0% charged, which will likely never be the case.
How Much Does it Cost to Charge?
The cost of charging all depends on the cost of electricity in the area that you wish to charge, the best way to estimate this cost is by setting an average of $ per kWh (Kilowatt-hours) per 100 miles. So if the average cost of electricity in the US is 12 cents per kWh and the BMW i3 has a battery capacity of 22 kWh, charging the battery to 100% will cost on average $2.64. The normal time to charge to 100% at this cost is 3 hours. However, for an additional cost, you can use the fast charge option which allows you to charge the car to 80% in 20 minutes and 100% in 30 minutes.
