Coldplay’s next tour will be powered by recycled batteries from BMW
A couple of years back, Coldplay vowed not to tour until they found a way to do it in an ethical and environmentally responsible way. When I spoke to Chris Martin about that earlier this year, he kinda laughed and basically said “Yeah, we probably should have thought that through.”
They’ve done that, apparently. When The Music of the Spheres Tour begins next year, the band’s equipment will be powered by batteries donated by BMW, specifically units that used to be in the company’s i3 EVs. About 40 battery packs will be combined into one giant unit. (Let’s see: Each i3 battery has 96 cells, so 40 of them equals 3,840 cells. That’s a lot of juice.)
Fine. But how does this mega battery get recharged? BMW has worked out plans involving solar power and generators powered by vegetable oil. The tour will also offer “power bikes,” stationary bicycles that fans can pedal to generate electricity. There are also plans for something called a “kinetic stadium floor.” This will see the movements of the audience like walking, stomping, and moshing (okay, maybe not moshing; this is a Coldplay show after all) into electrical impulses that will power the gear.
And why BMW? Coldplay has had a corporate sponsorship relationship with them for several years. Ever seen the video promoting the i4 and the iX?
Cool idea. More information here.
