BMW South Africa and Schneider Electric have announced a partnership for the supply and installation of charging points for BMW’s electric vehicles, which will go on sale locally early next year.

Schneider will work with BMW electric car sales agents and customers to conduct home surveys prior to the installation of charging points as well as offering maintenance and support for “wallbox” charging stations.

“We see the professional installation of the wallbox for charging the BMW i3 and i8 as one of the key factors for the successful marketing of electric vehicles,” said BMW South Africa sales and marketing director Antonio Antela Martinez.

The i3 is the car BMW hopes will replace a household’s second car, or one that will be used by urbanites who don’t travel out of the city. This is because electric vehicles do not have sufficient battery capacity yet to compete with the drive range of a full tank of petrol. On a single charge, the i3 will go for up to 160km, depending on how it’s driven.

The i3 will also be available with a “range extender” engine, which maintains the charge of the lithium-ion battery at a constant level while on the move using a small 650CC engine that charges the batteries in an emergency. Maximum range stands at approximately 300km for the i3 range extender.

At current electricity prices, fully charging the i3 at home will cost about R25.