My first year with the Myenergi Zappi...

We’ve been the proud owners of our new 2018 BMW i3s BEV for 12 months now and thought it would be a good time to give an update on how we drive electric using a combination of public charging and the Myenergi Zappi at home.

A year of electric car charging stats

We have now driven 45,609Km, using 6,156kWh of power, costing us a mere $13.61. That’s an average of 13.5kWh per 100Km. Note: I’m tracking kWh put into the car not kWh used by the car. The car’s computer has the lifetime usage at 12.6kWh/100Km.

So why are our power costs so incredibly low? This is because we have invested $585 in cables and adapters, to be able to charge the BMW i3s while out and about, as much as possible. And also $1300, for the Myenergi Zappi electric car charger at home, so we can use our self-generated solar to nearly exclusively charge up.

We’ve also just got the BMW i3s its first scheduled service, which included cabin micro filter and brake fluid replacement, costing us $215. Oh, we also got ripped off on a tyre puncture repair, at $35. But, that's all the running costs for the first year.

Comparing that to our last new ICE car, a 2013 Volkswagen Golf, in the same time and distance we spent $3,697 on fuel & $594 on 3 separate log book services.

I really love driving the BMW i3s and make any excuse to go out and explore this great country. We live about 35 minutes north of Brisbane, so whether it is a holiday to Cairns or just taking a different route to the places we go to often.

It’s just a pleasure to drive in the comfort & quiet of an electric vehicle. Every time we take someone for a spin, they are amazed at the power & torque, plus how smooth & quietly it moves. The hardest thing about our ownership so far, has been finding time to keep it looking clean, because we use it so much!

I'll be posting regular updates here on the EVolution blog, and also at The Australian Electric Vehicle Association - Queensland Branch Facebook page; if you have questions, I'm happy to answer them!