Electric Cars  

BMW aims to take a huge load off the power grid in California, where most of the automaker's i3 cars are sold. The company has unveiled the so-called BMW i ChargeForward program, a pilot project that it has created in collaboration with PG&E.

BMW is one of the few automakers that are putting a lot of effort into expanding the charging solutions in the countries it sells its all-electric i3 model, offering innovative solutions and creating various programs that make it easier for owners to locate publicly available charging stations. The latest initiative launched by BMW aims to take a load off the power grid in California, where most of the i3 cars are purchased, so that it can handle the increased power demand in the future, which is expected to occur when electric cars become more common.

The German car maker has unveiled the so-called BMW i ChargeForward program, a pilot project that it has created in collaboration with PG&E, a California-based utility company, which will basically incentivize i3 owners to delay charging in an attempt to ease strain on the power grid.

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The program started in July, and will run through December 2016 in the San Francisco Bay Area, awarding gift cards to BMW i3 owners who agree to charge their vehicles during times of low power demand. With this program, up to 100 BMW i3 owners in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties who also purchase their electricity from PG&E, will receive $1,000 gift cards after agreeing to delay charging during peak hours, which will help reduce the stress on the grid.

“One thing that we’ll be investigating with this pilot is understanding how people charge, how flexible they are with respect to when they charge, and how best to design future products in a way that benefits both customers and utilities,” noted Julia Sohnen, Advanced Technology Engineer – Sustainable Mobility at the BMW Group Technology Office USA.

PG&E will inform BMW when power demand is high, and the car maker will then choose a group of drivers that it will ask to delay charging for an hour. Owners will then be able to accept the delay or opt out in case a charging delay is not convenient for them at that particular moment. If they agree not to charge their car when asked by BMW, the company will wirelessly interrupt charging and let the owner know that charging will not be available over the next hour. The automaker will select owners for a charging delay based on their driving needs, which they will have entered into the i Remote App that informs i3 owners about the status of their vehicles at all times.

In addition to the $1,000 they receive at launch, owners will also be eligible for an additional gift card of up to $540 at the end of the program, depending on how many times they agreed to delay charging over the course of the 18-month program.

With this managed charging program, BMW hopes to help reduce the impact of electric vehicles on the electric grid in California, which should in turn help keep electricity prices from rising in the future, when much more electric vehicles are expected to hit the roads, leading to substantially increased power demand.

By Jordan Perch

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Author Bio - Jordan Perch is an automotive fanatic and “safe driving” specialist. He is a writer for DMV.com, which is a collaborative community designed to help ease the stress and annoyance of “dealing with the DMV.”

 Electric Cars  

BMW is ready to launch a new model from its i division, which will be a plug-in hybrid, instead of an all-electric vehicle, like previously thought.

BMW's electric cars from the company's “i series” have been selling quite well lately, with sales of the i3 and the i8 in the U.S. market actually exceeding expectations, so it's no surprise that the German car maker is thinking about launching another electric model, which is expected to try and battle it out with arguably the best electric car on the market, the Tesla Model S. While the potential Model S rival has been rumored to be launched somewhere around 2020, a new report in “Autobild”, a German automotive magazine, now states that BMW's latest plug-in model is set to arrive in 2018.

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According to the report, BMW is ready to launch a new model from its i division, which will be a plug-in hybrid, instead of an all-electric vehicle, like previously thought, with the Chinese premium car market as one of its main targets. The report states that this hybrid will be called i5, and will be a luxury sedan, just like the Model S. And like Tesla's ultra popular sedan, the i5 will also have a pretty hefty price tag of around 100 000 euros, as Autobild says.

Over the past few months there has been a lot of speculation regarding the platform the i5 will employ and its performances, but now Autobild has revealed specific details on the car's power output and powertrain. The i5 is expected to be based on the i3 platform, and will probably employ a powerplant that will be similar to the one BMW recently showcased in the 5 Series plug-in hybrid prototype. It will be powered by a gasoline engine delivering 218 horsepower, along with an electric motor with 150 horsepower at the front end, and a second one at the car's rear end, providing an additional 272 horsepower.

This makes for a total power output of 640 horsepower, which is amazing for an electric car, but still falls short of the 690 horsepower produced by the motors mounted in the Model S P85D. The car will lag behind the Model S in terms of all-electric range, as well, being rated at 78 miles, according to Autobild, which is better than most hybrids on sale today, though. The gasoline engine will be activated when the car exceeds 37 mph.

Even though the i5 will have a shorter range than the Model S, it will likely be just as dynamic and sporty as Tesla's sedan, or maybe even more, given that it will use the Power eDrive drivetrain, which employs pretty powerful electric motors. When it comes to the i5's design, Autobild says that it will probably share a few similarities with the 7 Series, which is supposed to be released soon.

With the i5, the German luxury car maker hopes to be able to become an important player in the market for luxury electric vehicles in China, as well as North America, where the Model S is the undisputed leader at the moment. BMW reportedly plans to build 30,000 units of the i5 per year.

By Jordan Perch

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Author Bio - 33rd Square contributor Jordan Perch is an automotive fanatic and “safe driving” specialist. He is a writer for DMV.com, which is a collaborative community designed to help ease the stress and annoyance of “dealing with the DMV”

 Electric Vehicles  

Tackling the issue of infrastructure for electric vehicles, BMW has announced a pilot program of street light charging stations.

The global introduction and adoption of electric vehicles depends largely on the existence of supporting infrastructure, and it's clear that until there is a wide network of charging stations in place, the market for electric vehicles will not see a significant growth. While most charging stations that are currently in place have been installed by electric utility companies and public authorities, the auto industry, itself, must contribute and help develop the charging infrastructure further. German luxury car maker BMW, for one, has decided to actively join the efforts for upgrading the infrastructure and give EV owners more charging opportunities, with a relatively simple and affordable solution, that's much more cost-effective than the conventional charging stations.

"Seamless charging infrastructure is essential if we want to see more electric vehicles on the road in our cities in the future."

BMW has launched a pilot program to test its new “street light” charging stations, that rely on the existing infrastructure, instead of installation of dedicated stations. The company has developed a system called “Light and Charge” - LED street lights equipped with sockets that can charge electric cars, a solution that could help EV owners charge their cars much more easily. The two prototype street light stations combine BMW's ChargeNow EV charging stations and LED technology, and were already installed in the company's home town Munich, in front of its headquarters.

"Seamless charging infrastructure is essential if we want to see more electric vehicles on the road in our cities in the future," said Peter Schwarzenbauer, a BMW board of management member, according to Reuters.

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The Light and Charge street lights will be publicly available, and everyone who owns an electric vehicle, regardless of the model, will be able to use them, and pay for the electricity through a smartphone app. The app does more than just charge users – it can notify them when their car battery is fully charged, so they don't have to sit in their car waiting, and use that time to run errands, instead.

This solution could revolutionize the way people charge their electric cars and make the process much more convenient, which will surely make EVs more appealing to consumers, given that limited charging opportunities are one of the leading obstacles to a faster adoption of these alternative fuel vehicles.

With the introduction of this project, BMW continues to demonstrate its determination to help increase the popularity of electric vehicles, and make them a more viable alternative to conventional cars. The German manufacturer already introduced two plug-in models – the i3 five-door hatchback and the i8 two-door coupe – which have been selling relatively well, and it's one of the most serious potential competitors to Tesla in the electric vehicle market. In the meantime, BMW is trying to further develop electric vehicle technology and extend battery life, and cut charge times. Also, they have developed a software that helps EV owners find the nearest charging stations, in collaboration with Car Charging Group, a U.S. company that provides EV charging services, which can be used through BMW's ConnectedDrive navigation system.

By Jordan Perch

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Author Bio - 33rd Square contributor Jordan Perch is an automotive fanatic and “safe driving” specialist. He is a writer for DMV.com, which is a collaborative community designed to help ease the stress and annoyance of “dealing with the DMV”