BMW design street lamp charging points for electric cars
German automobile manufacturer has spearheaded the invention of plug-in points on street lamps to charge electric cars and is planning a pilot project in Munich next year
The German automobile manufacturer, BMW, has spearheaded the invention of plug-in points on street lamps to charge electric cars and is planning a pilot project in Munich next year.
It will be the first installation of charging lights that are connected straight into the existing local authority street lighting infrastructure, according to a company announcement on Friday.
The two prototypes will combine efficient Light Emitting Diodes (LED) with BMW’s ChargeNow recharging stations for electric cars.
The additional charging stations can be used by any vehicle model and electricity provider.
BMW has already installed two street lights in front of the BMW headquarters. Drivers can pay to charge their cars via a mobile application.
According to Peter Schwarzenbauer, a member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, "Seamless charging infrastructure is essential if we want to see more electric vehicles on the road in our cities in the future”.
Aside from developing street lighting, BMW has invested in applications and software that assist electric car drivers in finding parking spaces as well as their nearest charging station. BMW have invested into Justpark.com and SLAM charging networks as an initiative to support this idea.
BMW plan to expand this proposal through their collaboration with Tesla Motors. They intend on discussing the availability of electric vehicle charging stations.
