SPECIFICALLY, what's it like to charge it around and outside Metro Manila? To summarize, thanks to the BMW iX midsize electric SUV's long range and ever-growing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations within the metro, I did not suffer at all from range anxiety. Based on my experience, it also costs less than filling up with today's high gas prices, especially when using the free (for now) AC (alternating current) mall chargers provided by SM, Ayala, and Robinsons. Charging, however, is just one part of the ownership experience, because long-term maintenance is just as critical and is worthy of today's discussion.

Let me first break a common myth when it comes to EV maintenance costs. If you think it's expensive to maintain an EV compared to a vehicle with an internal combustion engine (ICE), then you couldn't be any further from the truth. Firstly, ICE cars need to harness and find the right balance of all those explosions happening inside your cylinders. As a result, you have stuff like spark plugs, a crankshaft, and timing chains, just to name a few. And yet that's just the tip of the carbon dioxide-filled ICEberg (pun intended).

On the other hand, an electric motor is far simpler. Because there's no harnessing of any explosions as a result of a mishmash of cranks and pistons firing, there's no need to lubricate an electric motor. Oil changes? Yes, that's a thing of the past for EVs. And so are spark plugs, oil filters, and other consumable items that an ICE needs.