Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

Enroll now to test BMW’s wireless charging system for electric vehicles

By

If you’re tired of plugging in your electric vehicle (EV) or hybrid like a commoner, BMW has a completely wireless solution for you — if you live in California and are accepted into the company’s pilot program, that is. Those caveats aside, wireless charging has long been promised and teased for the increasing numbers of electric cars, and this program is a welcome step toward making wireless charging a reality for all EV owners.

This is the program’s first expansion outside of Germany. Available on the BMW 530e plug-in hybrid, the system includes a wireless charging ground pad and a car pad affixed to the underside of the vehicle. The system then wirelessly charges the 530e over a gap of about 3 inches, with a charging power of 3.2KW. Specifically, the ground pad creates a magnetic field, which induces an electrical current inside the car pad. This would charge the onboard batteries fully in approximately 3.5 hours. The electrical efficiency of the wireless charging system is 85 percent, so your electrical bill will include electrons that you never got to enjoy. If you’re worried about frying your cat, the ground fixture is constantly monitoring for foreign matter and switches off if anything is detected.

The BMW pilot program is available to 200 qualifying applicants who live in California and start a new lease on a 530e plug-in hybrid. To qualify for the program, you must qualify for the 530e lease, as well as fill out two surveys to determine your and your home’s suitability for the program. The first questionnaire, available here, determines whether you own your home or need homeowners association (HOA) approval to do the installation required, and if there is a BMW dealer close enough to your address. Apparently, renters and HOA neighborhoods will not be favored by BMW.

Related

The second survey (available here) helps determine if your home, garage, and electric grid are suitable for the charging pad installation. The company is asking participants to have an enclosed garage for the charging pad, even though they state that the charging pad can be installed outdoors. It is likely that the company is simply attempting to limit variables during this first U.S. test. Installation, maintenance, and removal of the wireless charging ground pad is free to participants and completely covered by BMW.

If you are approved for the program, you can take your confirmation number to one of 33 participating California BMW dealers and start a new 36-month lease on a 530e. We spoke to BMW on what happens after the three years, and they said, “The 530e and related hardware must be returned after the lease expires.” This is a real bummer, but given that this wireless charging system is already in use in Germany (as well as countless phones) it is likely to become a permanent fixture of BMW’s electric lineup.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Adam Kaslikowski
Adam Kaslikowski
Former Digital Trends Contributor
I don't have oil in my veins, but I do have it all over my carpets and clothes. Over my 10-year journalistic career, my…
The best EV charging apps help you find the right station for any electric car
Close up of the Hybrid car electric charger station with power supply plugged into an electric car being charged.

Charging an electric car can be confusing. Unlike gas cars, there are all kinds of things to take into account when finding a charging station -- like how many chargers are at a station, how fast they can charge, and whether or not they offer the right charging connector for your car.

Thankfully, there are a number of dedicated EV charging apps out there, and the likes of Apple Maps and Google Maps have gotten better at helping users find charging stations near them. That's not to mention all the network-specific apps and car-specific apps that manufacturers and charging companies have made.

Read more
Business upfront, 31-inch TV in the back. BMW’s electric i7 is a screening room on wheels
Front three quarter view of the 2023 BMW i7.

The BMW 7 Series has been the venerable German automaker’s flagship for more than 40 years, but with its latest redesign, BMW is taking things in a new — and electrifying — direction.
The 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 (or i7 for short) is the first all-electric 7 Series in the model’s history. It’s positioned against electric luxury sedans like the Lucid Air, Tesla Model S, and the Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan, a longtime BMW rival. But BMW took a different approach with its electric chariot of the affluent.
Because while those other EVs are based on clean-sheet designs, the i7 is just one version of a car that continues with combustion engines. It shares styling and tech — including an available fold-down, rear-seat widescreen monitor — with internal-combustion 7 Series models. So it offers a more traditional approach to luxury for EV buyers who don’t want to change anything about their cars except the method of propulsion.
Those buyers will also pay a slight premium. The i7 starts at $120,295, compared to $114,595 for the 760i xDrive, the first gasoline 7 Series model of the new generation. BMW also plans to offer a less expensive gasoline 740i for $94,295 sometime after launch. But when you’re spending this much on a new car, those aren’t huge differences.

Design and interior
The new 7 Series — and by extension the i7 — is sure to prove controversial due to BMW’s new front-end styling, which combines a massive grille sure to stoke internet memes and odd-looking two-tiered headlights. The effect is exaggerated by an available blacked-out front-end treatment, which makes it look like parts are missing.
Those styling elements carry over from gasoline 7 Series models to the i7, as does the hulk-like body shell, which is abnormally tall for a sedan, requiring steps at the hood and rear bumper to blend them with the thick center section of the body. The i7 also retains a long protruding hood, which is necessary to house the engine in gasoline 7 Series models, but is just an affectation here.
BMW claims the i7 will appeal to buyers who want a traditional luxury sedan first and an EV second. To be fair, the i7 is much more conventional-looking than the streamlined Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan and Lucid Air, or the grille-less Tesla Model S. But some of that work has been undone by BMW’s unorthodox design choices in other areas, which may not appeal to traditionalists either.
The i7 is sure to prove controversial due to BMW's new front-end styling.

Read more
The all-electric BMW i7 is a home theater on wheels
Front three quarter view of the 2023 BMW i7.

BMW is no stranger to electric vehicles. It launched the quirky i3 hatchback in 2014, and followed it up more recently with the i4 and iX. But now BMW is making its flagship vehicle electric.

The BMW 7 Series is the automaker’s biggest, most opulent sedan, and for the 2023 model year, it gets a redesign that includes a first-ever electric variant. The 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 (to use its full name) will start shipping to U.S. dealerships in November alongside gasoline 7 Series models (a hybrid version will arrive later as well).

Read more