Charging your BMW i4, or any other electric vehicle, off-peak can save you a ton of money. That’s an even more accurate statement in areas of the country where electric utilities have Time of Use rates. Utilities have time-of-use rates to encourage people to use electricity when there is a lower demand of energy from the grid. This is especially true in states such as California where rates can be as much as 50 percent less to charge in the middle of the night versus a 4PM to 9PM window. Some utilities even have EV-specific rates and meters. Filling an electric car with electricity at a rate of 24 cents vs. 55 cents per kWh adds up fast.
In this video, we show you how to set your BMW i4 to charge off-peak. There are two main ways to set your BMW i3, i4 and iX, or any BMW plug-in hybrid to charge off peak. The easiest way is to use your My BMW app. Of course, you can also use any of the iDrive systems to setup the charging process, being either iDrive 7 or iDrive 8. The video shows both options, so we cover all the use cases.
- Open the app and select Charge & Climate settings.
- Under Charging Mode, change from Charge Immediately to Charge in the time slot.
- Once you select this a roller wheel of when to start and when to end charging in your preferred time slot.
- Set those times and then click Update in my BMW.
- Then make sure to Select a departure time.
Setting a departure time seems unnecessary but it allows your BMW to know when you plan to drive it. This setting a departure time function is needed for charging in a time slot as well as precondition for departure. Pro tip: Set the default departure time for every day of the week so you do not accidentally plug your BMW i4 in and not have it charge.
Home Charging Costs for the BMW i4
- Charging, 20%-80%: Approximately 5 hours. High: $12.11 Low: $6.29
- Charging, 0%-100%: Approximately 8.5 hours. High: $20.18 Low: $10.49
Considering the BMW i4 eDrive40 maxes out around 300 miles of range, the 20%-80% range makes up for approximately 180 miles of range. Our competing gas vehicle would use up around seven gallons of fuel to make that same trip. So, around $28.00. Its 17.5-gallon tank would need $70.00 to reach full capacity.
Watch our off-peak charging instructional video for the BMW i4 and don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel.
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More EV-related articles brought to you by ClipperCreek powered by Enphase. ClipperCreek has been a pioneer in the EV charging market since 2006 with Level 2 AC charging stations. You can catch our first three articles here: Buying Your First BMW EV, BMW EV Ownership: Terminology, Charging, and Battery Health, How To Get Tax Rebates for Installing a Home EV Charger and Benefits of Outdoor BMW EV Charging: Personal and Commercial.