Photo: BMW
Some of us didn’t take BMW too seriously when they said that their intention with the i sub-brand was to offer an eco-friendly alternative to our current lifestyle and means of transportation.
However, the Germans were extremely serious and worked relentlessly for 7 years to bring us the best in the business. Did they succeed? Almost.
Apart from going all green both in the assembly process and the manufacturing of the carbon fibre raw materials at the Moses Lake (where all the energy needed is harvested using hydropower), the engineers and designers worked together to go even further.
The guys from BMW’s US-based DesignworksUSA lab designed what they call the world’s first solar carport. It’s basically a garage made out of bamboo, whose roof is made up of solar batteries that charge your EV.
The choice of materials wasn’t at random. Bamboo is considered a sustainable material because of its rapid growth while the batteries on the roof will eliminate your need to charge the electricity network, saving money and the planet at the same time. The solar panels come with a 30-year warranty in Europe.
Inside this ‘carport’, BMW installed an i Wallbox Pro that will charge your car even faster than a wall socket. The same device will show you just how much electricity is stored when starting the charge and how much went into the car.
“With the solar carport concept we opted for a holistic approach: not only is the vehicle itself sustainable, but so is its energy supply,” explains Tom Allemann, who is responsible for the carport design at BMW Group DesignworksUSA.
“This is therefore an entirely new generation of carports that allows energy to be produced in a simple and transparent way. It renders the overarching theme of lightweight design both visible and palpable,” he added.
Apart from going all green both in the assembly process and the manufacturing of the carbon fibre raw materials at the Moses Lake (where all the energy needed is harvested using hydropower), the engineers and designers worked together to go even further.
The guys from BMW’s US-based DesignworksUSA lab designed what they call the world’s first solar carport. It’s basically a garage made out of bamboo, whose roof is made up of solar batteries that charge your EV.
The choice of materials wasn’t at random. Bamboo is considered a sustainable material because of its rapid growth while the batteries on the roof will eliminate your need to charge the electricity network, saving money and the planet at the same time. The solar panels come with a 30-year warranty in Europe.
Inside this ‘carport’, BMW installed an i Wallbox Pro that will charge your car even faster than a wall socket. The same device will show you just how much electricity is stored when starting the charge and how much went into the car.
“With the solar carport concept we opted for a holistic approach: not only is the vehicle itself sustainable, but so is its energy supply,” explains Tom Allemann, who is responsible for the carport design at BMW Group DesignworksUSA.
“This is therefore an entirely new generation of carports that allows energy to be produced in a simple and transparent way. It renders the overarching theme of lightweight design both visible and palpable,” he added.
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