Charging Your BMW Electric Car

BMW Smart Charging App Determines Optimal Times for Charging Your BMW Electric Car Based on Rates and Calculates Cost.

BMW is not only pioneering a new generation of electric-powered road cars – now on sale at Braman BMW — but also the most effective, and efficient, way to charge them.

The new BMW Smart Charging App makes it possible for BMW i customers to automatically identify the best rates and times for charging their electric vehicles at home.  For use with both Android and iOS devices, the BMW Smart Charging App is integrated with the BMW i Remote App, which allows drivers to get vehicle information via their smartphone. The BMW Smart Charging App has the potential to save customers as much as $400 annually on their electric bills. BMW is the first automotive manufacturer to offer this automated and fully integrated functionality.

In its initial phase, the BMW Smart Charging App is currently available to BMW Electronauts. Electronauts are electric vehicle enthusiasts who leased a BMW ActiveE as part of the company’s field trial which began in 2012, many of whom were among the first in the U.S. to take delivery of a BMW i3. Through a direct connection to a national energy rate database hosted by BMW Group partner, software company Genability, BMW i3 drivers will be able to automate their charging strategy in advance for daily and weekly use. They can also check their energy rates in this database, determine the optimal times to charge their vehicles and get transparency over the charging costs.

By linking the BMW ConnectedDrive interface through the BMW i Remote App, customers can also precondition their BMW i3 vehicles’ temperature, see their vehicle status, view actual charging times and related costs, and adjust and disable their charging settings remotely.

The BMW Smart Charging App will be available to all BMW i3 and BMW i8 customers in the U.S. in 2015.

For further information, or to schedule a test drive of the new i3 or i8 – or any vehicle in the BMW lineup, please visit Braman BMW.