BMW receives 'Momentum for Change’ award from United Nations

BMW i, the German carmaker’s alternative fuel initiative, has bagged the 'Momentum for Change’ award from United Nations for its pioneering work in the field of individual mobility. The UN lauded BMW for its groundbreaking products and services, and its worldwide involvement in the expansion of the publicly accessible charging infrastructure for electrically powered vehicles, launched jointly by BMW i and ChargePoint. The ‘Momentum for Change’ award is presented within the framework of the UN Climate Conference COP 21 (Conference of the Parties) being held in Paris.

BMW’s i division is also supporting a wide range of fast charging infrastructure projects on a worldwide basis, currently with a focus on North America, Europe, South Africa, China and Japan. The charging stations are being installed at a maximum distance of 50 miles (about 80 kms) from each other, usually in rest areas and in the vicinity of shopping centres, restaurants or leisure facilities. Each station features 50 kW and 24 kW charging respectively. In case of 50 kW the standard-charging cycle e.g. for the BMW i3 only takes around 20 minutes. Special attention was paid to the aspect that all charging stations meet the worldwide CCS Standard and are usable for a wide range of EV’s, so that they cannot be used just by models of one certain brand, say, BMW. 

BMW is rightfully proud of the fact that with the “i”, it leads the automotive industry by the multitude of pilot projects being involved. Furthermore, strategic investments by BMW i Ventures in leading brands within the charging infrastructure area, e.g. ChargePoint and Chargemaster underline the momentum of the brand for successful electro mobility. With more than 38,000 stations run by different operators in 25 countries, the ChargeNow service comprises the world’s largest network of publically accessible charging points for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.