BMW Introduces Light and Charge - a Street Light that also Charges Electric Vehicles.

BMW has release a revolutionary ‘Light and Charge’ streetlighting system. The units are capable of illuminating the streets along with charging the electric vehicle. This is not just some illusionary prototype, BMW says that the pilot project will start from next spring in Munich, Germany (early 2015). Moreover, the Bavarian automaker has already installed two charging lanterns there!  

Peter Black Bauer, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, went on to say, "Light and Charge is a simple and innovative solution to naturally integrate a reliable network of charging stations in the city,"

"With the ChargeNow map of BMW i, we are creating today access to the world's largest network of charging stations. We are pleased that we can with our partners to promote the expansion of the charging infrastructure further jointly by the project ‘Light and Charge’. Only with a comprehensive charging infrastructure we see the future more of electric vehicles in the cities," he added further. 

Essentially, it is a street light with LED lighting and a charging unit. BMW says four modules LED can easily lit-up a major road while one or two LED are pleasant for residential street and side streets. Coupling street lighting with charging stations will increase the number of charging station and ease the use of electric vehicle further. Its not brand specific so EVs from other manufacturer can also use these stations, and it uses standardized connector for charging the electric vehicles. BMW says Light and Charge units will integrate into the company’s ChargeNow map that includes 18000 charging stations across Europe.