Having just taken delivery of a hybrid BMW I was surprised to be given no information at all about public charging points, and no charging cable to connect to them. The dealer helpfully gave me a cable when I complained (pointing cost of £161) but still no info on what appears to be a bit of a confusing picture of differing charging systems out in the wild..

I have a Govt grant supplied Chargemaster point at home and have not yet ventured far enough away to need to connect to a public point

That's precisely the problem with plug-ins and plug-in hybrids.

I'd have done my homework before committing to a purchase.

I had a look at the map here:

www.zap-map.com/live/

As I expected, once you get away from the major towns and cities charging points get rather spa***.

I hope you enjoy your 225xe, Robert. A 2-series was on my shortlist early this year, but the 225xe seemed far too expensive for what it was compared with the rest of the range. And even then too much stuff was extra, as often with BMWs, including, unforgivably, lumbar support.

But to make the charging cable extra on a plug-in hybrid was I hope a mistake by the dealer: if not, BMW deserve to be publicly pilloried.

Let's hope you find it worth the extra cost in terms of driver enjoyment as well as economy.

Please do keep us posted on your driving impressions and experiences: a 225xe Phev is on my list for my next company car, as the BIK tax and contract hire rates are very favourable at the moment.

As said above, I do hope the lack of a charging cable and relevant info about charging points is a blip.