BMW enables Plug&Charge recharging with just a credit card linked

Owners of fully electric BMW and MINI models in Germany can now recharge their vehicles using Plug&Charge technology without needing a prior charging contract. This new feature allows the charging session to start automatically simply by plugging in the vehicle, without using mobile apps, charging cards or any additional manual steps.

Until now, to use Plug&Charge technology in vehicles from the Bavarian group, it was necessary to have a charging plan and register it in the vehicle system. Recently, BMW had already implemented Multi-Contract Handling, which allows several contracts to be stored and the most convenient one to be chosen at any time. Now, the company goes one step further by allowing owners of one of its electric vehicles to store a credit card directly as a payment method within the Plug&Charge system. In this way, dependence on traditional contracts is eliminated.

With this contract-free option, BMW aims to attract new customer profiles, especially tourists, fleet drivers and company car users who only use the vehicle temporarily under their account. According to the company itself, this offer opens Plug&Charge for the first time to customers who do not have an existing charging contract.

A first step

This new feature is already available for all BMW and MINI models compatible with Plug&Charge. However, it is important to note that it does not yet work at all stations that support this technology. According to the company, at launch it has been activated at more than 1,400 charging points of Mer Deutschland in Germany and Austria, and more operators and countries will be gradually added throughout 2026, although BMW has not detailed how many or which ones exactly.

The price of each recharge is based on the rate applied by each operator at that time. This information is clearly shown before starting the process at the charging station, on the vehicle’s screen and in the BMW or MINI app. Payment is made automatically with the stored credit card, offering full transparency and control over spending.

On Mer Deutschland’s initial network, prices range from €0.69/kWh at 50 kW points to €0.79/kWh at high-power stations.