BMW and SOLARWATT are expanding their long-running collaboration to integrate Neue Klasse electric vehicles into the home energy ecosystem, with a market launch planned for late 2026 in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. The companies will link bidirectional BMW vehicles and the BMW Wallbox Professional to the SOLARWATT Manager home energy management system (HEMS), allowing the BMW iX3 and BMW i3 to operate as additional storage alongside a household photovoltaic system. The step follows BMW’s first commercial Vehicle-to-Grid offering in Germany, launched earlier this spring with E.ON, and extends the bidirectional rollout from grid use to in-home energy management. BMW and SOLARWATT have collaborated on electromobility and home storage since 2013.
Highlights
- Late 2026 market launch in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands integrating BMW Neue Klasse vehicles with the SOLARWATT Manager HEMS for Vehicle-to-Home applications
- BMW iX3 and BMW i3 paired with the bidirectional BMW Wallbox Professional, with the vehicle functioning as additional storage for surplus PV output
- SOLARWATT Manager supports dynamic electricity rates, solar forecasts, and integration of home storage systems from other brands
- Customer controls split between the My BMW App and the SOLARWATT Home app
Vehicle-to-Home Integration Through SOLARWATT Manager
The SOLARWATT Manager HEMS will serve as the link between the two ecosystems, handling intelligent control of energy flows among the photovoltaic system, home storage, electric vehicle, and other household consumers. The electric vehicle is integrated as an additional storage unit alongside fixed home battery storage.
The integration is enabled by the bidirectional BMW Wallbox Professional, which charges the vehicle and can also feed energy from the high-voltage battery back into the home. SOLARWATT reports that the Manager is designed as an open platform, allowing home storage systems from other brands to be integrated alongside SOLARWATT’s product range.
The system supports dynamic electricity rates and solar forecasts to further optimize charging and discharging cycles, reduce energy costs, and increase self-sufficiency. Homeowners control settings through the My BMW App and the SOLARWATT Home app.
Building on a 2013 Partnership
BMW and SOLARWATT first paired on electromobility and home solar in 2013. In 2021, the partners launched a home storage system using a battery module that incorporates components also used in BMW Group electric vehicles. Since 2025, the successor product, the SOLARWATT Battery vision, has been available, with housing and design developed by BMW Designworks USA.
The new HEMS integration extends that hardware history into software-level coordination. BMW notes that the V2H offering builds on bidirectional charging capability introduced with the Neue Klasse, which previously addressed vehicle-to-grid functionality through a separate cooperation with E.ON.
Executive Commentary
“Drivers of a Neue Klasse electric car like the BMW iX3 can use the additional storage to make even more efficient use of self-generated solar power, increase self-consumption, and thus reduce their reliance on expensive grid electricity. For many homeowners, the prospect of expanding an existing home battery storage system with an electric car is highly attractive. This significantly increases the benefits of one’s own PV system, lowers electricity costs, and makes the home even less dependent on purchasing electricity from the grid,” said SOLARWATT CPO Peter Bachmann.
“At the same time, bidirectional charging holds enormous potential for the energy transition, as the batteries of electric vehicles collectively form a massive storage reserve. If this flexibility is intelligently integrated into energy markets and households, it can help relieve the strain on power grids, better integrate renewable energy, and make additional storage capacity available quickly and cost-effectively,” said Marcus Krieg, Vice President New Business at the BMW Group.
Roadmap to Launch
BMW and SOLARWATT have identified Intersolar (The Smarter E) as the next public milestone for the project, with phased implementation continuing through the planned market launch at the end of this year.
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