BMW Group has quietly made public EV charging a lot less painful — and for the first time, drivers without a charging contract can use it too.
Since March 16, BMW and MINI drivers in Germany have been able to plug in at public DC charging stations and simply… charge.
No app fumbling, no RFID card, no pre-arranged contract. The car authenticates itself automatically the moment the cable goes in.
It works through the Plug & Charge standard. Once a driver logs in with their BMW or MINI customer ID, the vehicle handles the rest — identifying itself to the charger and triggering the session.
Billing runs straight to the credit card already on file. The ad hoc price is shown in both the vehicle display and the app beforehand, so there are no billing surprises.
Setup takes just a few taps in the my BMW or MINI app under the Plug & Charge menu. After that, it’s truly hands-off at the charger.
The real news, though, is who can now use it.
More operators and markets are due to follow through 2026 — they’ve taken their time getting here, but it’s a welcome change.
The rollout begins with Mer Germany across more than 1,400 charging points in Germany and Austria, running on Hubject’s Plug&Charge ecosystem.
