[whichway]

My 2026 ixdrive60 has electrify america plug and charge enabled, and it's all enrolled on my phone and in the car.
However on my wife's phone, her BMW app says "no account" under charging->services->electrify america. I assume this is OK because the account is set up under my phone and the car has plug and charge enabled?

I also added NFC charging from the BMW app to my apple wallet and shared that with the wife, I guess she could use this if there is some sort of plug and charge failure?

BMW's FAQ and videos don't go into enough details to know if and when I'd ever use NFC with a plug and charge car, and whether showing "no account" is misleading as the car is sharing an account across BMW ids.

[Cam330i]

Originally Posted by whichway

My 2026 ixdrive60 has electrify america plug and charge enabled, and it's all enrolled on my phone and in the car.
However on my wife's phone, her BMW app says "no account" under charging->services->electrify america. I assume this is OK because the account is set up under my phone and the car has plug and charge enabled?

I also added NFC charging from the BMW app to my apple wallet and shared that with the wife, I guess she could use this if there is some sort of plug and charge failure?

BMW's FAQ and videos don't go into enough details to know if and when I'd ever use NFC with a plug and charge car, and whether showing "no account" is misleading as the car is sharing an account across BMW ids.

Hello!

First, congrads on your new iX! Be sure to give it a name - my cousin recently got a 2025 iX - M60 and he named it: "Dylan" and he uses that as the Personal Wake Word
(e.g., "Hey Dylan - take me home", "Hey Dylan - open all windows", etc.)

Anyways, on to answering your questions!
NOTE: Down below I'll leave some EV Charging Resources!

Being that only the Primary User can add/remove/edit charging plans/contracts, it's "Normal" to see "No Account" on your wife's profile, whereas you will see "Active" on your profile!
NOTE: DO NOT switch primary/secondary users, as doing so, will delete/remove your charging contracts!

That said, it is possible for her (or anyone else) to charge the car with your charging plan/account/contract via "Plug and Charge"


If you (the Primary user) go to the "Plug and Charge" setting in the "Charging" settings app/icon, you will see all available charging contracts that you currently have! If you select any one of the charging contracts, you will see a setting called: "enabled for ALL BMW ID's" and it should be enabled by default. With that setting enabled, that means anyone driving the car with their Driver Profile (incl. Guest Profile) can charge the car with your charging plan/account/contract and that person can charge the car by simply plugging it in!

You can also test this out for yourself by having her pull up to a charging station (most likely Electrify America) with her Driver Profile (or Guest Profile) active and have her just plug the car in and see what happens... the charging should start! Now she can keep the NFC Charging Card on her phone just in case, but it shouldn't be necessary with Plug and Charge!

NOTE: She may have to enable the Plug and Charge setting from within the car via the Charging Settings, although I am not sure if this is required or not...

Anyways, I hope this answers your question and please let me (us) know if you have any other questions/comments!

Additionally, if you haven't already, I would encourage you and her to download the "BMW Driving Guide" and there you can have your vehicle's owner's manual, driving simulation videos, etc.

Lastly, please know that most, if not all, of these public charging stations will charge (penalize) you if you don't move your vehicle after the charging session is done; please keep this in mind!

Best,
Cameron - (2025 BMW 330i, named: "Hayko")

PS - Most DC - Fast (Level - 3) charging stations support Plug and Charge, but not all do.

PSS - The Shell Network is a "pay as you go" type of plan and some of their charging stations support "Plug and Charge" as well!

PSSS - Your vehicle can support up to 5 charging plans/contracts/accounts

PSSSS (troubleshoot) - If you ever plug the car in to charge, it starts charging for a few seconds, and then stops? That means you (the primary user) has to update your billing card on file... even if it is the same card. I want to go out on a limb and assume this is due to security purposes...??
Once completed, Plug and Charge should work again.

Some additional Resources:

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by whichway

My 2026 ixdrive60 has electrify america plug and charge enabled, and it's all enrolled on my phone and in the car.
However on my wife's phone, her BMW app says "no account" under charging->services->electrify america. I assume this is OK because the account is set up under my phone and the car has plug and charge enabled?

I also added NFC charging from the BMW app to my apple wallet and shared that with the wife, I guess she could use this if there is some sort of plug and charge failure?

BMW's FAQ and videos don't go into enough details to know if and when I'd ever use NFC with a plug and charge car, and whether showing "no account" is misleading as the car is sharing an account across BMW ids.

Sometimes plug and charge fails which then requires starting the charge with either the myBMW app or the NFC card via the Apple wallet.

[whichway]

Originally Posted by LVBMW

Sometimes plug and charge fails which then requires starting the charge with either the myBMW app or the NFC card via the Apple wallet.

Thanks guys, yes the plug-and-charge didn't seem to be working for her, she had to try 3 times and use NFC, and finally it worked after the 3rd attempt just before she was going to bail and see if another charger would work. My BMW app just says "Charging not started" for the first two attempts, which isn't so helpful. Authentication timeout on electrify america's end? Didn't push the plug in hard enough? Didn't swipe NFC fast enough? Who knows, the error is too vague.
Not a very good first time experience, certainly not the "simply plugin your bmw and walk away" experience that bmw advertises for electrify america.

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by whichway

Thanks guys, yes the plug-and-charge didn't seem to be working for her, she had to try 3 times and use NFC, and finally it worked after the 3rd attempt just before she was going to bail and see if another charger would work. My BMW app just says "Charging not started" for the first two attempts, which isn't so helpful. Authentication timeout on electrify america's end? Didn't push the plug in hard enough? Didn't swipe NFC fast enough? Who knows, the error is too vague.
Not a very good first time experience, certainly not the "simply plugin your bmw and walk away" experience that bmw advertises for electrify america.

Most of the time it works flawlessly for me, but occasionally there’s an error.

[thebishman]

Originally Posted by whichway

Thanks guys, yes the plug-and-charge didn't seem to be working for her, she had to try 3 times and use NFC, and finally it worked after the 3rd attempt just before she was going to bail and see if another charger would work. My BMW app just says "Charging not started" for the first two attempts, which isn't so helpful. Authentication timeout on electrify america's end? Didn't push the plug in hard enough? Didn't swipe NFC fast enough? Who knows, the error is too vague.
Not a very good first time experience, certainly not the "simply plugin your bmw and walk away" experience that bmw advertises for electrify america.

A tip I read on a different site is to make sure that the EA plug is very firmly inserted and then gently exert pressure in an upwards direction. This was felt to be because the bloody plug is so heavy and unwieldy and a couple of pins might not be getting the necessary contact.
There were quite a few Audi eTron owners having issues charging at EA and by doing the above, they were able to rectify the situation.

[whichway]

Originally Posted by thebishman

A tip I read on a different site is to make sure that the EA plug is very firmly inserted and then gently exert pressure in an upwards direction. This was felt to be because the bloody plug is so heavy and unwieldy and a couple of pins might not be getting the necessary contact.
There were quite a few Audi eTron owners having issues charging at EA and by doing the above, they were able to rectify the situation.

Yes, the plug is apparently pretty tight, she had trouble removing it from the charging station even (she thought it was locked in the charging station).

Looks like the root problem may have been that under her profile, in the car under plug & charge, the service account had a green checkmark but there's also a separate enable button above this that defaults to OFF (even though plug&charge is set to on under the primary account and additionally "enabled for ALL BMW ID's" was selected). This seems asinine and is not covered in the bmw how tos nor set up by the BMW "genius" who walked thru setting up electrify america.

[danchee]

Hijacking thread a bit. Bought an used iX and don't qualify for the free 30 minute plan. I tried to sign up for a regular plan via the MyBMW App but it wouldn't let me sign up as it keeps trying to sign me up for the 30 minute plan. Any idea how to set the car to allow regular EA plan?

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by danchee

Hijacking thread a bit. Bought an used iX and don't qualify for the free 30 minute plan. I tried to sign up for a regular plan via the MyBMW App but it wouldn't let me sign up as it keeps trying to sign me up for the 30 minute plan. Any idea how to set the car to allow regular EA plan?

You might need to use the EA app for that.

[thebishman]

Originally Posted by danchee

Hijacking thread a bit. Bought a used iX and don't qualify for the free 30 minute plan. I tried to sign up for a regular plan via the MyBMW App but it wouldn't let me sign up as it keeps trying to sign me up for the 30 minute plan. Any idea how to set the car to allow regular EA plan?

Best to go through the EA app itself would be my advice.

I can’t link my EA plan via the BMW app, as it keeps asking me to try and initiate a Free EA plan as it is you. Frustrating for sure!

[danchee]

Originally Posted by LVBMW

You might need to use the EA app for that.

Originally Posted by thebishman

Best to go through the EA app itself would be my advice.

I can’t link my EA plan via the BMW app, as it keeps asking me to try and initiate a Free EA plan as it is you. Frustrating for sure!

Thanks. I was hoping to be able to link the plan so I can actually use the plug and charge feature. Looks like standing in the sun/rain to do the billing is the way to go still

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by danchee

Thanks. I was hoping to be able to link the plan so I can actually use the plug and charge feature. Looks like standing in the sun/rain to do the billing is the way to go still

I have not tried it, but I don't know that signing up through the EA app for a paid plan necessarily precludes being able to use plug and charge. I don't think you need to be on the free charging plan to use plug and charge.

[thebishman]

Originally Posted by danchee

Thanks. I was hoping to be able to link the plan so I can actually use the plug and charge feature. Looks like standing in the sun/rain to do the billing is the way to go still

I still have ‘Plug and Charge’ active in my car; one doesn’t preclude the other.

[danchee]

Originally Posted by thebishman

I still have ‘Plug and Charge’ active in my car; one doesn’t preclude the other.

Well, how does it know what contract to bill to if you don't link it to the app/car? Shell Recharge have very limited plug and charge support in the Pacific Northwest.

I can't select EA for plug and charge since there's no contract downloaded to the vehicle.

[thebishman]

Originally Posted by danchee

Well, how does it know what contract to bill to if you don't link it to the app/car? Shell Recharge have very limited plug and charge support in the Pacific Northwest.

I can't select EA for plug and charge since there's no contract downloaded to the vehicle.

I have both a Contract for EA and Shell Recharge downloaded and active in the iX.

Have you created your own free standing account through the EA app? Once that’s up and running, you can then contact EA about having a contract sent to your iX.