ABB-led consortium launches $10.5M project to install fast chargers along key European highways
16 December 2014
A 5-partner consortium led by ABB has launched a €8.4-million (US$10.5-million) project, co-funded 50% by the European Union, to install a corridor of high-quality fast chargers along key European motorways until the end of 2015. In addition to ABB, the consortium includes the Dutch e-mobility operator and retailer Fastned B.V.; the Danish e-mobility operator CLEVER A/S; the Swedish public utility and e-mobility operator Öresundskraft AB; and the German Testing and Certification Institute VDE Prüf-und Zertifizierungsinstitut GmbH.
The aim of the ELECTRIC project is to create an open-access fast-charging corridor situated along major motorways connecting Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands via a total of 155 chargers, with up to 30 in the Netherlands, 23 in Denmark, 35 in Sweden and 67 in Germany.
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| The ELECTRIC corridor is outlined in purple (2013-EU-92043-S). Click to enlarge. |
Together the partners expect that this corridor resulting from ELECTRIC will help accelerate electric vehicle uptake in the involved Member States and the focus on interoperability, sustainable infrastructure setup and network planning alongside infrastructure deployment.
The first charging stations co-funded are already in place and ready to use in Denmark - operated by CLEVER A/S and in the Netherlands by Fastned B.V. The partners expect to complete the open access fast charging corridor by the end of December 2015.
ELECTRIC is funded by the the “Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T)”. (Earlier post.) Via TEN-T the European Union contributes to the internal market in order to harmonize and better connect transport systems in Europe. The objective of the TEN-T programme is to co-fund investments in transport infrastructure in order to ameliorate the European Transport Networks. The total budget of this project amounts to about 8.4 million euros.
Amazing what can be done with a mere $10.5M.
Our (65) F-35 will cost $48+B or almost $1B/each.
The Trans-Canada Highway could be fairly well electrified (one+ charge station every 100 Km) with the cost of a single F-35.
Posted by: HarveyD | 16 December 2014 at 09:25 AM
The low price per unit is striking. The Tesla Supercharger costs about $150k apiece, if memory serves. $10.5 million would only suffice to buy about 70 of them. This is an addition more than twice that size. Then again, maybe they're only a fraction of the power; charging a Leaf to half capacity in 30 minutes only takes about 25 kW.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 16 December 2014 at 05:09 PM
These are apparently being built in pairs, which likely future proofs it.
Much of the expense of a station is wiring it up, so the above ground 50kw chargers can presumably be replaced by 100kw capable chargers, which if two vehicles are plugged in would revert to 50kw each as Kia have done.
So this should be effectively a supercharging network, or the groundwork for one, as soon as others than Tesla have batteries needing it and able to cope with that speed.
Posted by: Davemart | 17 December 2014 at 01:07 AM
There are highways in California that would have to make a huge transmission line investment to install multiple 100 kW charging stations. They could put in an acre of solar charging batteries banks to charge cars less expensively.
Posted by: SJC | 18 December 2014 at 02:23 PM
They wouldn't be charging all the time; all you'd need is storage of some kind, to buffer the power demands.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 18 December 2014 at 07:55 PM
I think ABB is planing install those chargers at vicinity of high voltage substations (no less than 110 kV) where avalable powe is hundreds of MW not kW and no any buffers or power bunkers are needed.
Posted by: Darius | 19 December 2014 at 11:56 PM
I don't know about Europe, but such substations are thin on the ground along many stretches of freeway in the USA. I've driven stretches of road stretching 100 miles or more where the electric service is just 2-3 wires on wooden poles, perhaps 7200 volts.
Where the substations are and where vehicles are likely to need to stop for a charge may not match up all that well.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 20 December 2014 at 06:18 AM