Experiences from an Electric car road trip: 2400 kilometers with a BMW iX xDrive60

Opinion piece by Zsolt Somogyi, the CEO of Parkl.

Recently, I had the opportunity to embark on a longer road trip across several countries, during which we tested the BMW iX xDrive60 under real-world conditions. The route covered Budapest – Linz – St. Gallen – Bürgenstock – Davos – San Cassiano – Budapest, spanning approximately 2400 kilometers. Along the journey, we crossed numerous Alpine passes, making the significant elevation changes and diverse driving conditions an ideal setting for testing both the electric vehicle and the charging infrastructure. 

credit: Zsolt Somogyi

The trip started in Budapest with a fully charged battery, and every accommodation (Linz, Bürgenstock, San Cassiano) provided overnight charging options. Thanks to this, each morning we could set off with the battery charged to 100%, which greatly simplified daily route planning and enhanced the driving experience.

During the entire 6-day road trip, we only had to stop for 40 minutes at a public charging station, which had minimal impact on our travel schedule. Like other modern electric cars, the BMW iX supports fast charging at up to 200 kW, making public charging sessions highly efficient. In addition, the mentioned hotel chargers provided a convenient solution, enabling us to start every day with a “full tank.” 

credit: Zsolt Somogyi

Our experiences clearly show that a longer, cross-border road trip is now both realistic and comfortable even with an electric vehicle. With proper preparation and route planning, the existing charging network reliably meets user needs, and charging does not slow down the rhythm of the travel. 

A particularly positive experience was that in Hungary, Austria, and Germany we could seamlessly use the Parkl Application across different charging networks, whether at an Ionity or an OMV station. This highlights how important and useful roaming charging options and unified access are in the world of electric mobility. 

credit: Zsolt Somogyi

Overall, this trip confirmed that the combination of the BMW iX and modern charging infrastructure makes multi-thousand-kilometer, comfortable, and enjoyable electric road trips possible. The focus was not on charging, but on the travel experience itself, which perfectly demonstrates the current state of electric mobility from a real user perspective.