BMW is taking electric vehicles to a new level with this week’s launch of a solar carport concept.
The car maker revealed the carport as part of the media launch of its BMW i8 plug-in hybrid in Los Angeles.
“With the solar carport concept we opted for a holistic approach: not only is the vehicle itself sustainable, but so is its energy supply,” Tom Allemeier, carport designer at BMW Group DesignworksUSA, said in a statement.
The carport is constructed largely of bamboo, which BMW said is a “particularly sustainable raw material.” To actually generate the electricity, there is high-grade glass-on-glass solar modules.
Drivers would use the carport in conjunction with the i Wallbox Pro in-home charging boxes, and could opt to charge their cars with solar electricity from the carport. The Wallbox will display how much solar energy has been used to juice up the car and offer analysis of solar charging vs. using electricity. If you create more solar energy than your car can use, meanwhile, it can be used for the home, BMW said.
Solar panels collect and feed CO2-free energy through the Wallbox and into the vehicle’s high-voltage battery. A fully charged high-voltage battery running the i8 plug-in hybrid sports car has a range of about 22 miles in all-electric mode, according to BMW.
“This is therefore an entirely new generation of carports that allows energy to be produced in a simple and transparent way,” Allemeier said. “It renders the overarching theme of lightweight design both visible and palpable.”
BMW’s electric vehicle lineup launched in July with the debut of its i3 all-electric car, worth about $41,350, with a 22 kWh lithium-ion battery for a range of 80 to 100 miles. The luxury carmaker unveiled the plug-in hybrid i8 in the fall, which is quite a bit pricier at $135,925.
