Intelligent, proactive charging to reduce overall running costs of electric vehicles.
The BMW Group is a leading innovator in the field of electric mobility and battery charging technology. Jointly with Californian energy provider Pacific Gas and Electric Utility Service (PG&E), BMW i will launch an 18-month pilot project under the name BMW i ChargeForward, starting in July 2015. The project will research and develop a system for smart charging of electric vehicles. Starting in January 2015, BMW i3 owners from the Greater San Francisco area will be able to apply to be one of the 100 participants in this project. The information obtained about the participants’ charging habits will offer valuable pointers as to how to provide a dependable supply of battery charging energy and how to use it as efficiently as possible. The aim of the project is to reduce grid load at peak times and to make greater use of renewable energy through staggered charging of the vehicles, while giving priority to the individual mobility requirements of the BMW i3 drivers. Participants in this scheme will receive bonuses worth over 1,500 US dollars in total. The BMW i ChargeForward Program will also explore the possibilities for reuse of ex-EV batteries as local energy buffers.
Optimised charging improves sustainability.
As more and more electric vehicles take to the road, the demands on energy providers increase as well. Providers have to ensure that the necessary supplies are available to allow a growing number of customers to replenish their high-voltage batteries at domestic charging stations, such as the high- performance BMW i Wallbox. When connected to the Wallbox, the BMW i3 can be charged in approx. 3.5 hours (7 kW at 240 V). The aim of BMW i ChargeForward is to boost the efficiency of the power grid and thus lower the overall running costs for EVs while at the same time driving forward the integration of renewable forms of energy – advantages that will prove beneficial particularly in the light of the steadily growing number of EVs on the roads.
The two cornerstones of the BMW i ChargeForward Program.
In addition to researching EV customers’ driving and charging habits, the field trial will also explore the possibilities for reusing ex-EV batteries as stationary electric storage systems, buffering electricity that can then be fed back to the grid during periods of high demand.
The BMW i3 drivers participating in the field trial in the Greater San Francisco area will sign an agreement to say that BMW may control the timings of battery charging when drivers connect their car to the grid at home or at a public charging station. Earlier trials with EVs have shown that the timing is flexible when it comes to vehicle charging, whereby the mobility requirements of drivers are given top priority. The BMW i ChargeForward intelligent charging system takes into account the charging requirements and preferences of individual participants based on the BMW i Remote smartphone app. With the aim of smoothing grid load as much as possible, the system can then decide exactly when to start charging in each individual case. The information is supplied from the BMW servers wirelessly to the energy management system in the BMW i3. If a user connects his vehicle to the charging station in the evening but does not plan to use the car until the next morning, the BMW i ChargeForward system can exploit the financial benefits of this flexibility and pass them on to the customer.
The system can be deactivated at any time to ensure that the electric mobility requirements of participants are optimally met. Should BMW i3 owners need their vehicle earlier than planned, they can use a free ChargeForward smartphone app to opt out of the pilot project at short notice. The charging process can then be manually launched. How often participants in the pilot project make use of this opt-out will provide further valuable input for use in developing an intelligent charging strategy.
Storing “intermittent” renewable energy.
Spreading out EV charging as much as possible in order to avoid sudden load peaks helps to improve grid stability. It also allows more renewable electricity – for example wind or solar power – to be integrated into the power grid, for example by storing it in stationary energy storage systems based on used EV batteries, in this case batteries from the MINI E field trial. Optimised use of the power grid and a greater proportion of renewable energy are predicted to reduce costs for the electricity providers, who would be able to pass these savings on to their customers in the form of lower electricity prices. In this way, BMW i would be reinforcing its commitment to sustainability while reducing overall running costs for electric vehicles.