When Jim and Jennifer started out on their electric journey in a BMW i3 back in 2014, they were one of the first wave of EV owners to experience the joy of electric driving, but also to face the challenges of a charging infrastructure that was still early in development.
With not enough chargers – and not enough of the modern ultra-rapid chargers that are fast enough to do quick on-the-go top-ups and refills in a short amount of time – it meant that journey times were far longer than in a conventional petrol or diesel car.
Now, for Jim and Jennifer, driving their current electric BMW i4 is less of an adventure into the unknown, and more about exploring and discovering the possibilities and opportunities of new electric horizons. “Electric cars have been an adventure, that’s for sure,” says Jennifer.
Watch the video above – or read on – to find out more.
Learn more about BMW’s electric line-up
Exploring a still-growing charging network
After driving (and loving) a BMW 5 Series for some years, Jim’s interest was piqued by the arrival of the all-electric BMW i3 in 2014, and he and Jennifer were quickly won over by its driving character.
“Back in 2014, I read about the i3 as an electric car, and we went to the dealer in Reading and drove it 100 yards out of the dealer,” says Jim. “I just said: ‘We’ve got to have one of these’.” As Jennifer adds: “I was sold. I just loved it from the beginning.”
Even with the limited range of early electric cars and the limitations charging infrastructure, Jim and Jennifer’s BMW i3 quickly became their go-to car for all and any drives from their home in Sheffield.
“We went everywhere in the i3,” says Jim. “It was a city car, but we were really testing the bounds of the range, and that required a lot of patience. The network just wasn’t there. Probably we would stop somewhere north of Derby. Then you had to have a plan B if that was broken, and then a plan C. That was very difficult to do then. And now, of course, it’s quite different.”
