In the UK, there are now more electric car charging points than petrol stations.

Australia isn’t far behind.

In 2019, the number of public charge points outnumbered petrol stations in the UK. There are now 8,471 charging sites compared with 8,400 petrol stations. In fact, the number of petrol stations is actually decreasing.

In Australia, we are moving in a similar direction. We already have 2,307 public charging stations and 357 of these are fast charging, an increase of more than 40 per cent in twelve months.

By 2025, the BMW Group expects electrified vehicles to account for up to 25 per cent of sales.

On the home front, flexible and innovative charging solutions are available in the form of a BMW or MINI Wallbox that can be mounted on any house or garage and fast charge a vehicle to 80 per cent of maximum capacity in less than two hours.

One argument about switching to an electric vehicle (EV) has been that it takes too long to charge and that the public network is inadequate for real-world use.

But, as Benjamin Bucksch, Product Manager Wallboxes BMW Charging observes: “With high powered charging, it is possible to recharge sufficiently in 20 minutes – about the same as a coffee break.”

On the road, public charging stations are becoming abundant enough to considerably lessen ‘range anxiety’. When you consider that the everyday range of a BMW i3 is up to 260 kilometres, that’s more than enough for the daily commute and relaxed weekend trips.  

BMW has recently partnered with Chargefox, Australia’s largest network of public electric vehicle chargers. Chargefox is backed by Federal and State Government funding. This network will be Australia’s first to feature 350kW Ultra-Rapid EV chargers.

According to Infrastructure Australia, electric vehicles are projected to account for between 70 to 100 per cent of new vehicle sales and at least 30 per cent of our vehicle fleet by 2040.

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