BMW To Display Solar Charging System and Home Battery Tech At CES

It's not just an autonomous parking system on show at the BMW stand at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, with the German automaker also announcing a solar car charging system and a home battery storage concept.

For owners of BMW i3s and i8s, BMW has announced its updated i Wallbox Pro charger at the show. The new charger can take the voltage output from a solar panel array and feed it into a car, allowing batteries to be topped up using clean, low-cost energy.

When the sun sets, the i Wallpox Pro will automatically draw power during off-peak periods to take advantage of cheaper electricity rates.

While the i Wallbox Pro isn't capable of storing solar-generated energy to charge a car at a later time, BMW's concept home battery system will demonstrate that such technology need not be far away.

Whether storing energy from solar panels or charging up using cheaper off-peak power and releasing it during the day when electricity is more expensive, home energy storage has the potential to lower power bills in a meaningful way.

BMW's concept system will use repurposed battery packs from i3s and i8s in a "stationary" enclosure, and is primarily geared towards capturing solar energy. There's no word yet on when BMW intends to commercialise the technology.

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