San Francisco/ Munich. At theGovernor’s Global
Climate Action Summit (12–14September 2018) in San Francisco, the BMW
Groupand PGE present the results of their ChargeForward project
in favour of maximizing the use of electricity from renewable
resources to charge electric cars.
The main findings are:
- Electric vehicles can help stabilizing the public grid and
maximizing the portion of renewables. - Drivers are willing to change their charging habits in order to
align with renewables, given the right messaging and incentives. - Energy companies can help increase daytime charging with
renewables by supporting companies in adding workplace charging. - Sharing data with other drivers is a motivator for many participants.
- Programmes like ChargeForward improve customers’ understanding
of how the grid works, which helps them become more educated energy consumers.
The bottom line is that owners of all electrified cars could be able
to make their high-voltage batteries available as a flexibility buffer
for power generated from renewable sources. At the same time, they
could receive bonuses by charging their vehicle at the best possible
time of day – and therefore maximising the proportion of solar energy
they use – whether they are at home or out and about and using a
public charging facility.
„Our target is to offer charging power generated with the lowest
possible CO2 emissions at most attractive prices to drivers of our
electric cars”, says Dr. Joachim Kolling, Head of BMW Group
Mobility and Energy Services
“As California advances toward a carbon free economy, this
collaboration demonstrates how utilities and automakers can partner to
more efficiently utilize the grid through smart and managed charging.
Together we are paving the way for the rapid growth of electric cars
and achieving a clean and sustainable energy future”, adds Steve
Malnight, Senior Vice President, Energy Supply and Policy Pacific Gas
Electric.
ChargeForward brings CO2-neutral electric mobilityand efficient,
environment-friendly electricitysupplyanother step closer together.
The innovation project launched byBMW iand power supplier Pacific
GasElectric (PGE) in theSan Francisco Bay AreainCalifornia
has been running since 2015. Currently,350 owners of electrified
vehicles from the BMW and MINI brands who also have aPGE supply
contract are taking part in the pioneering fleet trial.
* End of short version. *
TheChargeForward pilot projectin Californiais stepping up the
ways in which electric mobilitycan link with eco-friendly changes
inenergy use. The project is bridging the gap between electric
vehicles and the public gridwith at echnology that hasthe potential to
make electric driving emission-free not only locally but across the
board. Key elements here include daily forecasts from energy providers
on when and how much electricity from renewable sources will be
available on thegrid. Customer requirements and preferences regarding
vehicle usage periods and parking times are also taken into account.
The ConnectedDrive telematics unit fitted in all BMW vehicles and the
BMW Connected app play a crucial role here.
When the ChargeForward project was launched in 2015, around 100 BMWi3
drivers downloaded a ChargeForward app which allowed flexible vehicle
charging from the electricity grid. This meant the charging process
could be paused when the grid enjoyed particularly high demand and
then restarted when the peak had tailed off again. Drivers would be
informed of any charging pauses by a message to their smartphone. As a
customer only rarely needs to use the whole time their vehicle is
parked for charging, in many cases they would be able to benefit from
periods when electric isavailable at lower cost. This would also
present an easy way for the energy company to avoid grid overloads and
ensure consistent and therefore efficient supply.
Since2017, the results of the second phase of the project have
shown how a flexible charging strategycan contribute not only to
stabilising the energy grid but also increasing the proportion of
green energy sourced forel ectric mobility. Around EarthDay earlier
this year, carefully managed charging in sunny California enabled
greater use of electricity generated from renewable sources. Around
350 BMW i car drivers participating in the ChargeForward project were
prompted to charge their vehicles’ high-voltage batteries during the
day. In this way, they prioritised those periods when solar energy was
available in particularly large quantities. This meant approximately
56 per cent of the power they fed into their vehicles during the test
period could ultimately be sourced renewably – and more than half of
the project participants’mileage in their BMW i3carsduring the test
was therefore completely CO2-neutral. By comparison, the average
percentage of renewable energy for the US stood at just 22 per cent.
The Governor’s Global ClimateAction Summit in San Francisco brings
together international representatives from politics and government,
environmental associations, business and industry to discuss the
impact of climate change and possible measures to counteract it. The
event shines the spotlight on ways to reduce CO2emissions generated by
humans. TheBMW Group is contributing to the summit in various ways
–e.g. witha run-downof the conclusions from the phases of the
ChargeForward project completed so far and a presentation of further
initiatives aimed at integrating electric mobility into a sustainable
and largely CO2-neutral energy supply system.
By pressing ahead with the ChargeForward project, BMW iand PGE
are showing their commitment to further incentivising intelligent
charging and to incorporating electric vehicles into the public energy
grid even more efficiently.In the near future, high-voltage batteries
from electrified BMW and MINI cars should be able to not only take on
as much renewably sourced electricity as possible, but also feed it
back into the grid, when there is a shortage of electricity from
renewable resources. By acting as temporary energy storage facilities,
they can help to stabilise energy supply. For example, they can be
used to cover load peaks inenergy generation from wind and solar power
(e.g. on particularly windy or sunny days) and channel the energy
stored back into the grid in the evening, whent he sun has set and
demand is elevated.
About BMW i
BMW i is a BMW Group brand focusing on connected mobility
services, visionary vehicle concepts and a new understanding of
premium strongly defined by sustainability. BMW i is represented in 54
countries with the electric BMW i3, the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports
car and BMW iPerformance plug-in hybrid automobiles.
BMW i opens up new target groups for the company and serves as an
incubator for innovations. Technologies which have debuted
successfully in BMW i cars are carried over to parent brand BMW’s
other models. BMW i is also associated with enterprises including
DriveNow (car sharing), ReachNow (car sharing 2.0), ChargeNow (easy
access to the world’s largest network of charging points), ParkNow
(straightforward location, reservation and payment of parking spaces),
the venture capital company BMW i Ventures (investment in start-up
companies with a focus on urban mobility), BMW Energy (energy
optimisation services) and the Centre of Competence for Urban Mobility
(consultancy for cities).
In the event of enquiries please contact:
Wieland Brúch,
BMW i and Electric Mobility Communications
Telephone: +49-89-382-72652
E-mail: wieland.bruch@bmwgroup.com
Internet: www.press.bmwgroup.com
E-mail: presse@bmw.de