Public Charging Downplayed by BMW Exec

Public charging stations for electric cars aren’t necessary if you ask BMW board member Herbert Diess.

In May, the BMW i3 plug-in electric car will go on sale in the U.S., marking the brand’s first mass-produced zero tailpipe emissions vehicle. The car is also the first of its volume and price to make critical use of carbon fiber in its structure. Charging is one of the biggest barriers the oddly-shaped German EV will run up against, or at least that’s what some might assume.

Diess sees it differently, saying he has been driving an i3 for over a year and hasn’t touched a public charging station. Instead, he sees the success of electric cars hinging on people being willing to install charging stations at their houses.

This isn’t BMW’s first electric car. It ran tests with electrified versions of a MINI and its own 1 Series to collect data that is now being factored into the i3 sales and marketing strategy. “Very few people would use public charging,” he said of people who drove BMW’s early electric cars.

Public charging stations are cropping up across North America and Europe to allow for more impulsive charging with less range anxiety. But people who rely on public stations to keep their electric car charged will be forced to deal with crowded stations, especially as more drivers adopt electric cars and seek public charging.