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BMW Wants a Charging Network to Rival Tesla’s Superchargers

Rumors that Tesla will be collaborating with BMW were quickly dismissed by the German manufacturer this week through unofficial channels. It all seemed too good to be true from the start to be honest, but eventually the Bavarians came out and said that there’s nothing the Americans could offer to them in terms of technology.
bmw charger 1 photo
Photo: bmw
It may seem cocky but apart from new batteries (and the tech that comes with them), there’s little that Elon Musk could offer the Munich-based giant. And BMW plans to be completely independent in the EV business.

That being said, they also put their money where their mouth is, officially announcing that they want to solve the charging problem across the US next year. How? By fighting Tesla with its own weapons.

Building a new charging infrastructure

BMW wants to offer new DC chargers across the North American country. In order to do so, it will be investing heavily into the infrastructure, looking to create a network of their so-called ‘ChargePoints’.

Unlike Tesla’s technology that is roughly the size of a refrigerator and costs $50,000 a pop, BMW’s tech is smaller at 24x17 inches and cheaper, priced at $6,500.

“It’s size and convenience make it a game changer,” said Jacob Harb, the head of electric vehicle sales and strategy for BMW of North America. “[BMW will] proliferate those charging stations everywhere,” he added, for Autoguide.

That’s not all though. Unlike Tesla that has been a bit selfish with its Superchargers, allowing only its own cars to be recharged using them, BMW went in a different direction. Their plan is to allow both their own cars and others as well to charge from the same outlet. Basically, if your car has a SEA charging plug, you can use BMW’s network as well.

As for the costs, we don’t have any info at the moment whether BMW will also be offering free electricity like Tesla or if they will be charging the service. Either way, multiplying the number of fast chargers around the country could very well help out with the sales.
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