Electric cars: BMW offers its solution for additional charging for photovoltaics

The “BMW Connected Home Charging” announced in 2023 is available to order on the manufacturer’s website in the first phase of the expansion. It should cost from 1769 euros, normal costs should be between 1769 and 2699 euros including installation. However, depending on the situation, they can also be more expensive. Installation is done by E.On Drive, with whom BMW entered into a partnership.

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The total package includes:

• Controllable BMW Wallbox Plus with RFID access control
• a small power manager that manages smart charging and load management
• additional Connected Home Charging (CHC) modules in the BMW/Mini program
• Installation and network

Overcharging is normal, load management is not

The main function of CHC is additional photovoltaic charging. The energy controller controls the charging power of the wall box so that it follows as closely as possible the current solar energy that is not being used indoors. Similar solutions are available from many manufacturers. We introduced the SMA ones some time ago. However, this is also known by our readers EVCC open source solution. A special feature of the BMW solution lies in its integration into the My BMW app or a small app. However, there is no real loss if the additional billing is done in a home automation program instead. On the other hand, the BMW design has a big disadvantage that it only works for BMW and small cars. For third-party products there is only one “basic function”, namely the standard wall box charge – shame.

Charging based on electricity price

From 2025, flexible electricity prices will be available to customers across Germany, along with the gradual switch of households to smart, internet-connected electricity meter systems. That’s why the BMW energy manager also offers a payment function based on the price of electricity. This will be phased in from summer 2024 and then presented again separately. Already included: load manager. He monitors the electricity consumption of the house. If this threatens to exceed the power of the home connection, the load manager reduces the charging power of the wall box. The system could also help once the Federal Network Agency has decided how the emergency power limit of up to 4.2 kW should be implemented.

As with the additional charge, the small box uses the data that the meter connected to the transformer in the transition connection of the house determines. When asked, BMW said that existing meters such as those offered by each inverter manufacturer can remain, such as smart electricity meters with the readable function. That’s a good thing because most solar systems use something like this to record production and consumption data separately. Of course, it may be that BMW limits the information in practice to the list of devices that have been tested as compatible.

Not for all cars – and only for a fee

BMW’s offer looks good at first. Then you read about the control via BMW software and the obvious incompatibility with third-party products, which mainly results from this software integration. BMW wrote to us: “If you don’t appreciate this level of comfort, you can be satisfied with other market solutions.” It is possible. Because other market solutions work with all types. BMW’s solution can’t even charge a guest car with plenty of solar power. There is also BMW’s plan to charge a subscription fee to operate the system after a period of two years: “The use of Connected Home Charging Services is free for the first 24 months. After that, the service can be extended for a fee in Connected Storage of BMW”.

In comparison: Most premium controllers cost only a fortune to purchase, despite frequent software updates. BMW’s version can do less than standard systems from converter manufacturers or the open source community, but costs more. If you can live with managing the extra charge in App A instead of App B(MW), more general solutions will be smarter for you. Perhaps BMW’s Connected Home Charging will be interesting when the next planned expansion step: two-way charging.

(cgl)