In BMW, Local News, Technology / by Anthony Lim / 11 August 2026 3:33 pmBMW Group Malaysia and Universiti Malaya (UM) has installed a solar-powered smartphone charging station running on second-life BMW EV batteries at the university’s Central bus stop. The initiative, which serves a location with more than 3,000 daily users, brings over two years of laboratory research into direct, everyday use by the campus community. The charging station is one of two concurrent and distinct applications to emerge from the initiative. In the first, lower-capacity battery packs are used for lighter applications, such as the mobile device charging station deployed at the UM bus stop. Designed to power essential household appliances including lighting, fans, and refrigeration in off-grid villages, these energy storage units are expected to be deployed in the near future.