BMW South Africa on May 20 unveiled its first solar carport that will be rolled out locally starting in July.

The company said that its BMW i solar carport supplies an average of 3.6 kW of solar power to the BMW i Wallbox, which is used to show a live readout of how much power is being generated by the sun and charge electric and plug-in hybrid BMW models. 

With the rollout of the BMW i solar carport, the BMW Group is demonstrating its commitment of shaping the future of individual mobility — not only with ground-breaking products and services, but also with the global as well as local involvement in the expansion of home and publicly accessible charging infrastructure for electrically powered vehicles,” Tim Abbott, CEO of BMW Group South Africa and Sub-Sahara, said in a statement. “With innovative services like the solar carport, BMW is the first vehicle manufacturer to offer such a broad-based EV smart charging product to reduce costs for customers.”

BMW said that BMW South Africa will expand the installation of the solar carport in major city centers in South Africa this summer for public charging. Customers and fleet companies will also be able to order the solar carport for home and office charging.

Renewableenergyworld.com