BMW plug-in hybrid owners to gain rewards for driving into new eDrive Zones

BMW is looking to reward drivers of its plug-in hybrid models for using electric-only power in certain areas through a new eDrive Zones scheme.

Dotted in major towns and cities across UK and Ireland, the zones will give drivers the opportunity to earn charging credits.

Drivers will earn two points per mile travelled with the engine switched off, when a plug-in hybrid is running in electric-only mode. Once owners have earned 3,200 points, they’ll be given a £10 voucher to put towards charging at one of BMW’s partner charging firms.

These rewards can climb to £25 at 7,500 points and £50 at 14,500 points.

Users are also rewarded with 20 bonus points each time their vehicle is charged for a minimum of fifteen minutes. There’s also a monthly reward of 500 points to those who charge their vehicles twenty times a month for a minimum of 15 minutes each time.

BMW first launched the geofencing technology in London and Birmingham back in 2020, but has now added a further six eDrive Zones to these two locations. They are Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Liverpool, Bath and Manchester.

The firm has also launched Zones in the Republic of Ireland, with both Dublin and Limerick added as designated cities.

The scheme is being offered to drivers of the firm’s 330e, 530e, 545e, 745e and X3 30e models produced from August 2021, as well as X5 45e drivers with the firm’s BMW Operating System 7.0.