Electric vehicles are the future, they say. But in the current day and age, trying to figure out the charging mechanics of an EV can be more challenging than figuring out which load shedding schedule you’re on.
During testing, we didn’t tick one of those boxes. We could only achieve an average consumption of mid-20s, with the best indicated range only a tad over 300km. Which is still more than enough for your average daily commuter. The BMW iX3, like many other EVs in standard form, comes off the assembly line only capable of charging at a maximum of 11kW off an AC charger. Unlike the Audi e-tron for example, upgrading the car’s onboard AC charging capacity from 11 to 22kW is not currently offered as an optional extra on the BMW.
As far as cost goes, even if you work on the 80kWh battery in the BMW iX3 only giving a range of 300km, it is still cheaper to “fill” it compared to petrol and diesel variants. At home you should be paying just under R3 a kilowatt, which will mean that a full charge will cost around R230.