BMW i3 Test Drive
Published on March 20, 2015
From Tuesday morning to Thursday afternoon I was granted the opportunity to experience a BMW i3 electric vehicle. BMW Leipzig was very helpful in making this possible.
However, this time I decided I'm not going to talk about the car itself, but about the infrastructure within Germany, more specifically in my region.
Charging the BMW i3
The basic charger of the BMW i3 is a small component using the upper charger port on the vehicle on one side and a basic German power plug ("Schuko") on the other side. This makes it possible to charge the vehicle anywhere you have a power outlet. Charging up to 3.7kW is possible. The upgraded charger for the i3 is rated at double the power with 7.4kW and requires a stronger power outlet.
Public Charging Stations in Dresden
Now I'd like to address a few issues with the recharging stations that are scattered around Germany. I've examined a few in Meißen and Dresden, each working differently. The biggest problem I encountered is the protection against sabotage.
The station located at Dresden's Elbepark is hosted by DREWAG. Payment is possible through Dresden's public transport system via something called "Handyticket", more specifically "Stromticket". I decided to use this one to charge my i3 for one hour while out for dinner with my girlfriend. The biggest issues here are that neither the power plug is protected against removal (anyone could just stop by and unplug my charging cable), nor is the display protected against someone simply cancelling my purchased charging time without a code. It would be easy to just use the same TAN that they send you for the payment. What I'd like to see is that they include fixed cables on the station to charge your car with. Why shouldn't it be possible? The plug itself is versatile and actually pretty common.
Public Charging Stations in Meißen
Next stop was in Meißen, on a parking lot right before old town. This one is hosted by stadtraum GmbH. It is really neat, as it combines the parking ticket machine with the power outlet and the purchasing model. In a few words: free electricity! A regular parking customer pays 0.50€ for 30 minutes of parking. Electric vehicles pay the same, but get to use a 3.7kW charger port for free. I like this. Sabotage protection doesn't exist here either, but at least nobody can stop your charging session through the vending machine.