Record-breaking journey from North Cape to Southern Spain
BMW has just driven its new i3 50 XDrive from the North Cape all the way across Europe – taking only two hours and 46 minutes to charge along the way.
11.11.2026 14:29 | Updated 14:46
The challenge is known as the Paneuropeana challenge, where the goal is to traverse Europe via designated checkpoints with the shortest possible total charging time.
Gasoline is not allowed; only zero-emission driving is permitted. A total of 5886.9 kilometers across eight European countries.
Beat previous record by over seven hours
The car was charged only at public fast chargers along the route.
During the charging stops, the charging speed at the stations had to be 275 kW. The total driving time was three days, two hours, and 41 minutes.
The average speed during the trip was 79.7 km/h – meaning they drove relatively fast and didn’t rely much on so-called hypermiling to reduce consumption.
The charging stops weren’t predetermined, allowing them to improvise along the way and make the best use of time in case there were long queues or other drivers.
But we can assume they carefully checked in advance where along the planned route there are fast enough chargers.
So the charging stops together took well under three hours. That’s quite impressive.
– With a total charging time of just two hours and 46 minutes, we surpassed the previous record set in 2017 by more than seven hours. For me, it’s a strong demonstration of what our new technology is capable of, says Mike Reichelt of the BMW Group in a press release.
Average consumption: 1.25 kWt per mile
It’s also not a particularly small car.
The BMW i3, once a compact city car that brought BMW into the electric vehicle market with its suicide doors and distinctive design, has grown in every aspect and is now a flagship in BMW’s so-called Neue Klasse lineup.
The i3 50 xDrive, the model that made the trip from Nordkapp to Tarifa, had an average consumption of 1.25 kWt per mile, which is significantly lower than the model’s official WLTP consumption figure.
During the expedition, the car was followed by another BMW i3 and a BMW iX3. According to BMW, all the vehicles had the same hardware and software as the production models that customers will soon be able to purchase from dealers.
If we are to test the car on the same route once we eventually get a test unit loaned to us, unfortunately, the chances are quite low.
But if our boss reads this, she might consider it a request...
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The post Tok laderekord fra Nordkapp til Sør-Spania appeared first on Norsk elbilforening.