BMW Canada electric car comes with solar panel discount

BMW Canada is betting people who are drawn to an electric car will also want to reduce their carbon footprint by generating their own solar power.

The auto companysnew electric car comes with an unusual incentive a 10 per cent discount on a home solar system.

The BMW i3 sedanis lighter than most vehicles because it's made of carbon fibre, andithas a range of 160kilometres. It takes about four hours to recharge with a special 240-volt charger, or 12 to 14 hours with a regular electricaloutlet. A sportier model, the i8, is also being developed.

BMWbegan selling its i3 compact urban vehicle in Canada in the past few weeks for alist price of$44,950.

Car owners would typically have to recharge the car two to five times a week, probably at night when power is cheaper in most jurisdictions, according to BMW Canada's Blair Dinsdale.

Sustainable vehicles

The solar power offer "was designed to cover the exact amount of power you would use in the car, based on sun access in Canada," Dinsdale said.

He said BMW has put effort into making the i series of vehiclessustainable, from its choice of materials to the wind power used in manufacturing. He said customers are interested in the green technology.

The solar power system, available in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, allows homeowners to buy a system to be mounted on their roof, which feeds power to the provincial electrical grid, rather than directly to the car.

BMW teamed up with Pure Energies Group, based in Toronto, which will assess the carbuyers home for solar, install panels and do all the paperwork to hook up with the local electrical utility.

Leah McLean, a social media specialist with Pure Energies Group, said homes are assessed for the size and pitch of the roof, orientation toward the sun and obstructions that might block sunlight. A sixkilowatt system that includes about 24 panels produces approximately7,000 kilowatt-hoursof electricity per year.

Ontario FIT program

She estimatedhomeowners in Ontario can recoup a solar investment of about $20,000 in about eight years, because of the province's Feed-in Tariffprogram that pays a premium on renewable energy.B.C. and Quebec have a so-called net-metering program, which reduces a homeowner'spower bill based on the amount of solar power theyfeed to the grid. The payback period for a solar system would be longer in those provinces.

Pure Energies also offers a deal where the homeowner doesnt pay the capital cost of a solar system upfront, but allows the company to install the system and earn the generation revenue while sending a cheque to the homeowner annually for use of the roof.

Tesla Motors CEOElon Musk is also thinking about the entire carbon footprint of those who own his company'selectric cars. A company he chairs, SolarCity, bought solar panel manufacturerSilevo last monthbecause of its promise of creating a more efficient solar panel.

"We absolutely believe that solar power can and will become the worlds predominant source of energy within our lifetimes, but there are obviously alotof panels that have to be manufactured and installed in order for that to happen," Musk said after SolarCitycompleted the deal for Silevo.