BMW South Africa Unveils Solar Carport to Charge Electric Vehicles

BMW South Africa Unveils Solar Carport to Charge Electric VehiclesStory from May last year written by Katie Pohlman from EcoWatch about BMW South Africa launching a solar charging carport. As I wrote on 9 February, solar charging stations are what's going to help electrify the African transport market and give it's inhabitants new found freedom in mobility.

The BMW i solar carport, produced by SUNWORX, is made of bamboo with stainless steel housing for the solar modules. The solar modules can produce an average of 3.6 kilowatts of power, which will be transferred to the BMW i Wallbox. The Wallbox shows a live readout of how much power is being generated by the carport and charges electric and plug-in hybrid BMW models, according to a BMW South Africa press release..........BMW South Africa plans to distribute public carports to major cities such as Johannesburg and Cape Town. Electric and plug-in hybrid owners will be able to use the public stations with ChargeNow, a card and app used for access and payment at the stations.

In the long run I can see this sort of thing being more popular outside the metropolitan areas. The big cities have a fairly reliable source of electricity. I can see solar-ports in more rural areas, maybe offering very cheap or free charging in disadvantaged communities. Charging the school bus for instance so kids don't have to walk miles to the nearest school.