BMW Group Korea installs country's first public 400kW ultra-fast EV charger

BMW Group Korea announced Monday it has installed the country's first public 400kW ultra-fast electric vehicle charger and begun full operations, aiming to maximize charging convenience for EV owners.

The company, which has been driving both the quantitative and qualitative growth of South Korea's EV charging infrastructure, has completed installation of four units in total — two at its BMW Charging Hub Lounge near Seoul Station and two at the BMW Driving Center on Yeongjongdo Island in Incheon.

The new 400kW ultra-fast charger delivers two to four times the output of existing 100–200kW fast chargers. For 800V high-voltage architecture electric vehicles such as the new BMW iX3, a vehicle with an approximately 80kWh battery can charge from 10 percent to 80 percent in just 8.5 minutes, dramatically improving the charging experience for EV users.

The ultra-fast charger is designed to benefit not only 800V architecture vehicles but also owners of existing 400V architecture electric vehicles. While standard 400V vehicles are typically limited in charging speed by a charger's current ceiling, BMW Group Korea's 400kW ultra-fast charger raises the maximum current to 500A, pushing the maximum available output to around 200kW. As a result, charging time for 400V vehicles is also reduced by approximately 1.7 times.

To address the heat buildup that inevitably occurs during high-output charging, BMW Group Korea has supplemented the previous forced-air cooling structure with a water-cooling system. This prevents the cable and connector from overheating and ensures stable, sustained high-output charging performance without any drop in power.

In addition, despite its ultra-fast charging capability, the unit keeps operating noise below 65 decibels, providing a comfortable environment for waiting customers and minimizing the potential for noise complaints. The system is also equipped throughout with a comprehensive set of safety features — including output overvoltage and overcurrent protection, leakage and cable overheat and cooling-fault detection, and an emergency stop button — to enhance reliability.

BMW Group Korea has been opening its publicly accessible premium charging stations, called BMW Charging Stations, across the country on a rolling basis since late 2022. In 2023, the company announced a mid-to-long-term charging infrastructure expansion project called Charging Next and has since completed installation of 3,030 EV chargers nationwide. It plans to expand the network to a total of 4,000 units by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, BMW Group Korea showcased 13 models at the 2026 Busan Mobility Show, which opened Thursday at BEXCO in Haeundae-gu, Busan — including the BMW 7 Series Nero Lusso Edition, a global limited-edition model making its domestic debut, and the next-generation premium all-electric SAV (Sports Activity Vehicle), the new BMW iX3.

The company said it intends to expand its presence in South Korea's premium import vehicle market by actively building out charging infrastructure alongside a competitive lineup of new models.