BMW SA unveils purpose-built solar carport for electric vehicles

10th June 2016

By: Irma Venter

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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BMW Group South Africa (SA) has unveiled a purpose-built solar carport that allows its electric vehicle (EV) range to charge using the power of the sun, instead of electricity from power utility Eskom’s grid.

The carport, an international innovation by Germany’s BMW Group, can charge any EV, such as the i3, the i8 plug-in hybrid and the soon-to-launch X5 plug-in hybrid.

The first solar carport, unveiled last week at the BMW Group SA head office, in Midrand, was built by local company Sunworx. It is made of high-end bamboo and stainless steel housings for the glass solar modules.

Bamboo is considered a fast-growing, sustainable and high strength-to-weight-ratio natural composite material.

The aim of the carport is to produce a zero-carbon footprint when driving an i-vehicle, says BMW Group SA and sub-Saharan Africa CEO Tim Abbott.

The plants where BMW’s i-range and main body components are produced use mainly renewable energy.

The BMW solar carport concept was first shown at the international launch of the i8 in April 2014, followed by the Consumer Electronic Show, in the US, in January 2015.

The carport roof supplies an average of 3.6 kW of solar power (on a clear sunny day) to a wallbox, which then transfers the power, using a cable, to the vehicle.

The wallbox shows how much power is being generated by the sun.

BMW Group SA i-product manager Alan Boyd says a typical South African winter’s day will see the i3 full-EV charge to a range of about 120 km in a 12-hour period.

However, in the summer, the power produced will be in excess of the vehicle’s requirements, with the possibility then available to customers to reroute the power for household needs.

A battery storage facility to allow overnight charging is an optional extra.

It is also possible to place the solar panel array on the roof of a garage, rather than using the carport structure.

The carport will be available to individual customers in South Africa from July onwards. The final cost has not yet been determined.

Boyd says BMW Group SA will use the period to July to further perfect the system and to work to bring the costs of the solar charging unit down.

Abbott notes that the local company will follow up the installation of the Midrand carport with three other installations in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

“We want to showcase the technology in high-visibility areas.

“We have always emphasised that, in order for EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs to be successful, we need to firstly increase consumer confidence in the viability of EVs and, secondly, make public charging easily accessible to customers who purchase these cars. “The roll-out of the solar carport is also an emphasis on this philosophy.”

Abbott says there is increasing interest from shopping malls, large retailers such as Pick n Pay, and corporates to make EV charging facilities available to their customers and employers.

Fleet owners may also derive benefits from looking to the increased electricification of their vehicle fleets.

Boyd says 27 BMW dealers will offer standard (nonsolar) public charging points by the end of the year. The V&A Waterfront and Constantia Village Mall, in Cape Town, and Brooklyn Mall, in Pretoria, are also either in the process of rolling out, or have already rolled out, public charging points.

Government has not yet offered any assistance in rolling out infrastructure for EVs, or by providing subsidies or tax breaks for these vehicles, as has been the case in many developed countries around the world.

Abbott adds that BMW Group SA’s Rosslyn manufacturing plant, in Tshwane, aims to be 100% sustainable by 2020, with between 30% and 35% of its power needs currently generated by methane gas. He is looking towards solar power and energy generated from landfills to make up the balance of the plant’s needs.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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