BMW raises the EV battery charging stakes
Look out Audi, BMW iX and i4 have a recharging system rated at up to 200kW; but is that still enough?There’s a new battleground for car company bragging rights – EV charging times. And BMW has just called Audi’s bluff with its fifth-generation EV powertrain and battery technology.
Things kicked off last year when Audi announced that it had developed a significantly faster means of charging the Audi e-tron SUV.
According to the Ingolstadt boffins, the Audi e-tron 55 quattro can recharge at 150kW from an ultra-fast (350kW) public EV charger.
That equates to just 45 minutes to charge the flagship e-tron variant’s 95kWh lithium-ion battery to 100 per cent of capacity from zilch.
Our recent comparison of the Audi e-tron 50 quattro against the Mercedes-Benz EQC 400 revealed to us that the e-tron was undeniably quicker to charge than the Mercedes, and despite some setbacks, we can attest that the 71kWh battery in the e-tron 50 can charge from around five per cent to full capacity in less than 45 minutes .
That’s all based around a charging rate of 150kW, but BMW has just announced that its forthcoming all-new 2021 BMW iX due late this year, as well as the BMW i4 Gran Coupe due early in 2022, can recharge at up to 200kW from an ultra-fast charger.
The problem is that despite the BMW system’s handy kilowatt advantage, it’s by no means certain that’s how things will pan out in real life.
In the specifications for the i4, BMW claims that the 80kWh (net) battery can recharge from zero to 80 per cent in 31 minutes from a DC (direct current) ultra-fast charger at a rate of 210kW.
Audi claims it can achieve similar results (30 minutes to 80 per cent capacity) at a rate of 150kW for the 95kWh battery of the Audi e-tron 55.
In practice, we know that the Audi e-tron 50 quattro recharges at 120kW, not 150kW, versus 109kW for the EQC 400. It’s fast, but not necessarily as fast as the manufacturer claims.
Nevertheless, we know also that the e-tron’s admittedly smaller battery can recharge as quickly as BMW is claiming for the i4’s battery.
It leaves the matter open to discussion. Is BMW quoting conservative numbers for its published specifications?
Will its fifth-generation technology work out as well in the real world as the company anticipates? And do users care anyway?
Watch this space.
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