European Fast-E project launches; 278 fast-charging points in Germany and Belgium
25 May 2016
The Fast-E project, co-financed by the European Union and nine companies, has officially launched, with the objective of installing 241 fast-charging charging stations in Germany and 37 in Belgium. A sister project between the Czech Republic and Slovakia will add another 30 charging stations.
The 278 charging points set up every 80 km along Germany and Belgium’s main motorways, will allow drivers of electric vehicles to “refuel” and extend their car’s range. The total investment of the EU-funded cooperation is approximately €18 million (US$20 million).
Under the leadership of the charging station operator Allego, the project Fast-E brings together nine companies in the industry, including three charging station operators (RWE Effizienz, enviaM and Allego) as well as four car manufacturers (Volkswagen AG, BMW AG, Renault SAS, Nissan Center EUROPE), DB Energie GmbH, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn and the Hamburg-based company hySOLUTIONS. The last, a competence center in several charging infrastructure projects, is responsible for the integration of new drive technologies in urban transport.
The quick-charging stations installed as part of the project employ the Combined Charging System (CCS) and CHAdeMO, each with up to 50 kW power output, as well as a type 2 connector with 43 kW power output. The project is expected to end in December 2017 with the completion of the accompanying studies; the charging infrastructure will continue to operate commercially thereafter.
Renault sells more electric vehicles in Europe than any other car manufacturer and had a market share of more than 23% in 2015.
Good news for all short and mid-range BEV owners in EU.
By recharging up to one hour every 80 Km to 100 Km or so, BEV users may be able to average close to 50 kph on long trips or close to 1000 Km during 20+ hours with 9 to 10 recharges?
An FCEV could to it in less than 10 hours with a single 5 minutes refill stop?
Posted by: HarveyD | 25 May 2016 at 08:43 AM
Supposing we have a VW e-golf, the new one with 200 km range and 37 kWh capacity, if we refill every 2nd charging station (every 160 km) it will need about 80% of its capacity at that time, i.e. 30 kWh, and at 50 kW charging rate (which is decent, but not great) it will take 36 minutes to recharge after having driven 160 km (so perhaps 80-ish minutes of driving followed by 36 minutes charging). Of course this is assuming you are driving repeatedly in this manner. If you have to go 160 km from home then you start out with your overnight charge and you only have to do this top-up once. Your hypothetical 1000 km trip would require 4 recharges.
Keep in mind also that the whole of Germany is about 600 km across ... and is well served by trains and airlines.
This infrastructure can (and, evidently, will) be built NOW. The hydrogen infrastructure is still a gleam in someone's imagination, and will be for quite a while ... maybe forever.
Someone who wants an EV and really does want to do cross country trips with it would be well served to buy a Tesla rather than an e-Golf given that (A) the Tesla will go further on your initial overnight charge, and (B) the supercharging stations have twice the recharging rate ... It appears that Germany is well served by Supercharger stations that are already built and up and running; SAE Combo has some catching up to do.
Posted by: Brian Petersen | 25 May 2016 at 07:33 PM
Yes BP, it is mainly a question of: Total distance to travel, max onboard kWh available, kWh consumption per Km, and recharging time.
A good extended range BEV would have:
(1) a large 150+ kWh (120+ kWh usable) battery pack.
(2) ultra quick charge (under 30 minutes @ 240+ KW)
(3) average 3 to 4 Km per kWh under all conditions
Such BEV would be able to travel close to 800 Km with a 30+ minutes lunch time recharge.
The higher weight and cost of current generation batteries would raise the initial price of this BEV close to $150,000? However, it may be possible with a TESLA S-150+ by 2025 or so @ $100K?
Posted by: HarveyD | 26 May 2016 at 10:31 AM