BMW i3 EV Charging Cable

Quick recommendation

A BMW i3 charging cable has to suit an onboard AC charger rated at 7.4 kW, which is what BMW fitted to UK cars across all three battery generations. That is worth stating plainly, because the i3 is one of the few cars where what BMW advertised in Europe and what arrived in Britain are not the same thing.

When the 94 Ah car launched in 2016 BMW described its charging as multi-phase, capable of 3.7, 7.4 or 11 kW. That 11 kW figure is three separate 3.7 kW modules working together, and it is where the idea of an 11 kW i3 comes from. A car with that three-phase unit plugged into a single-phase British supply charges at only 3.7 kW, because just one of the three modules has anything to draw from. UK supplied cars got the 7.4 kW single-phase charger instead, which is twice as fast at a house.

So if your i3 sits at 3.7 kW on a 7 kW wallbox, it is very probably not faulty and not the cable. It is more likely a car built for a market with three-phase housing. A 32A cable will not change that, and neither will anything else you can buy.

Every BMW i3 and i3 REx uses a Type 2 to Type 2 Charging Cable, IP55 sealed on ours. Type 1 was fitted only to North American cars and never here, whatever the age of the car.

For a UK car our 1-Phase, 32A cable is the right buy. It carries the full 7.4 kW and fills the final 42.2 kWh car in about 5 hours 45 minutes, the 33 kWh car in 4 hours 15 minutes and the original 22 kWh car in 2 hours 45 minutes. The 16A cable halves the rate to 3.7 kW and roughly doubles all three, which on a car with this little battery is a real daily cost.

Skip the 22 kW three-phase cable. A UK i3 has a single-phase charger, so the extra phases have nothing to connect to at a house or anywhere else.

The small battery makes our Type 2 to 3-Pin Charging Cable more useful here than on most electric cars. It is IP67 sealed, takes 2.3 kW and fills the 22 kWh car in about 9 hours 15 minutes, so an early i3 can genuinely be run from a household socket. Our note on charging from a household socket covers where that stops working.

One point on the range extender: the i3 REx was withdrawn in Europe in October 2018, just before the 120 Ah battery arrived, so there is no UK 42.2 kWh i3 REx. A British range extender car will be a 60 Ah or 94 Ah model.

BMW's later electric cars charge very differently. The BMW iX1 and the BMW i4 have their own pages, and the BMW charging cable range covers everything. Our IP ratings guide explains the sealing figures.

Every cable is CE certified, built to IEC 62196 Type 2, rated from -30C to +50C, or +60C for the 3-pin, and comes with a 2 year manufacturer's warranty and same-day dispatch on working-day orders placed before 2pm.

BMW i3 Charging Times by Battery

120 Ah, 42.2 kWh gross, 37.9 kWh usable, 192 miles WLTP, 2018 to 2022

Maximum onboard AC charging speed: 7.4 kW, single phase, on UK cars

94 Ah, 33 kWh gross, 27.2 kWh usable, 2016 to 2018

Maximum onboard AC charging speed: 7.4 kW single phase on UK cars. Cars built for three-phase markets manage only 3.7 kW here

60 Ah, 21.6 kWh gross, 18.8 kWh usable, 2013 to 2017

Maximum onboard AC charging speed: 7.4 kW, single phase

Only the 120 Ah car has an official WLTP figure. The 60 Ah and 94 Ah cars predate WLTP in the UK, so their range numbers come from the older NEDC cycle and read optimistically, which also makes their miles per hour figures look high. Winter and motorway pace both cut them further.

BMW i3 Charging Cable FAQs

What cable does a BMW i3 use?

The BMW i3 charges through Type 2 at both ends, on every model year and including the REx. For home use the 32A rating is the one to choose, since a UK i3 accepts 7.4 kW and that cable delivers all of it.

Why does my BMW i3 only charge at 3.7kW?

Almost certainly because it has the three-phase onboard charger fitted to cars built for markets with three-phase housing. That unit is three 3.7 kW modules, and a single-phase British supply can feed only one of them. A UK supplied BMW i3 has a 7.4 kW single-phase charger instead. No cable can change which unit is in the car.

Is a 22kW cable any use on a BMW i3?

No. A UK BMW i3 has a single-phase onboard charger, so the extra phases in a 22 kW cable have nothing to connect to, at home or anywhere else. It costs more than the 32A single-phase cable and charges the car at exactly the same speed.

Was the i3 REx sold with the 42.2kWh battery?

Not in the UK. BMW withdrew the range extender from Europe in October 2018, immediately before the 120 Ah battery arrived, so a British BMW i3 REx will have either the 60 Ah or the 94 Ah pack. The 42.2 kWh REx was a North American car.

Can a BMW i3 run on a three-pin cable?

An early one genuinely can. A Type 2 to 3-Pin cable gives the BMW i3 2.3 kW, which fills the original 22 kWh battery in about 9 hours 15 minutes, comfortably inside a night. On the 42.2 kWh car it takes over 18 hours, so there it is a backup rather than a plan.

What cable length does a BMW i3 need?

5m is usually plenty. The i3 is under four metres long and takes up very little driveway, and the charging flap sits on the rear offside where it is easy to reach from most wall unit positions. Choose 10m if the i3 lives on the street, or if it is parked behind a larger car and cannot get close to the wall.