EV charging landscape after AFIR: priorities and challenges ahead
10th April 2024, Brussels For Immediate Release
Landmark EU legislation will help catalyse a Single Market for electric vehicle charging & form the foundation of electric Heavy Duty Vehicle charging. It is now for each EU Member State to implement AFIR swiftly and precisely and create the enabling conditions for the further mainstreaming of e-mobility in their country.
In AFIR, the EU now has a piece of legislation setting the overarching governance framework for publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging in Europe and uniting various national and regional EV charging networks, which will benefit all EV drivers. AFIR will also further drive the expansion of charging infrastructure, especially for Heavy Duty Vehicles (HDV).
Charging targets for cars and vans
The targets will ensure that as more EVs are driven in the EU, the charging infrastructure expands accordingly. The charging targets must be met by Member States every year. At the moment, already 26 out of 27 Member States have met them, in most cases they far exceed the target. Moreover, the added distance-based targets along main EU roads will lead to the deployment of many more chargers, ensuring that EV drivers can make long range trips smoothly and seamlessly, without range anxiety.
Factors to watch: AFIR is an important milestone for the EU on the public charging side. Targets play a role in defining the direction and pace of transition in the EV charging sector, but they do not put in place enabling conditions for the rollout of infrastructure on the ground. There is no full transition without a well-developed private charging infrastructure. The vast majority of EV charging takes place in homes, workplaces and depots, which are outside of the scope of AFIR. National Policy Frameworks called for in AFIR require Member States to plan for the rollout of EV charging holistically, including addressing enabling conditions and bottlenecks. These elements will ultimately define the level of success of any country's efforts, not just the targets in AFIR.
New chargers for Heavy Duty Vehicles
AFIR’s distance-based targets for heavy duty vehicles (for example, every 100 km on key roads) will form the foundation of the charging network for electrified trucking.
Factors to watch: AFIR largely treats EV charging as a “brick-and-mortar” question, with a focus on the rollout of physical infrastructure. However, it does not tackle the major bottlenecks experienced by charge point operations including grid connection and permitting processes, which are especially acute in the case of charging for HDVs.
Harmonizing the experience of EV users
AFIR sets forward harmonization of price components (price per minute, session or kWh) and how to pay for an EV charging session (based on the power level of the charger). AFIR also requires standardized ‘point of interest’ information about charging stations, such as connector type, availability and whether it is powered by renewable energy. This significantly improves consumer experience, particularly for longer, cross-border trips.
Factors to watch: Standardization requirements outlined in AFIR will ensure that whichever Charge Point Operator or Mobility Service Provider network a driver is charging in, the price components will be the same for that category. Member States are responsible for overseeing the marketplace, and they will also be responsible for establishing National Access Points (NAPs) to collect the required data about the charging infrastructure.
Linkages with, and benefits to, energy systems
Member States must prepare national policy frameworks before the end of 2024, explaining how they plan on meeting the targets of AFIR. By October 14, 2024 operators must ensure that public charging points are digitally-connected charging points, and that all public charging points built or repaired after April 13, 2024 are capable of smart charging.
Factors to watch: There are two additional tasks that Member States have received from AFIR in 2024, which will help establish the foundations for better integration of energy and transport systems. Firstly, by June 2024, Member States must evaluate how the development and operation of charging infrastructure can enhance the role of EVs in improving the flexibility of the power system and supporting the use of more renewable energy. Moreover, each MS is tasked with evaluating the potential impact of bidirectional charging to determine how it can decrease costs for users and for the overall system, and help add more renewable energy to the grid.
Quotes
Remco Samuels, CEO of EVBox, President of ChargeUp Europe
"April 13th, 2024, will go down in history as the day that the EU stepped up and created a single market for public EV charging. Moving from a Directive to a Regulation was a hugely important step in this regard. Capitalising on the size of the EU single market and combining it with the torque of an average EV, AFIR has laid out some very important governing principles that should regulate our market for decades to come. However, whilst we are well underway, we are not quite there yet. At present we do not have a fully functional single market for EV Charging hardware. Product requirements currently differ widely across the EU, fragmenting our market. We need to create a single EU type approval regime for EV charging hardware to align on those. On another front our industry needs clarity on the treatment of VAT for EV charging goods and services. The different regimes that are currently in place across the EU today are a real challenge for many of our members, all of whom operate across national borders. The current VAT gordian knot rapidly needs unravelling. Let’s solve these obstacles and allow our industry to scale at speed."
Mathieu Bonnet, CEO of Allego, Vice President of ChargeUp Europe
"EV charging is more than just brick and mortar: it's also building the right partnerships, and crucially, developing the right software. Software and tech dictate how power will ultimately flow into cars from the charging infrastructure. That digital frontier is critical."
Vera Pinto Pereira, Executive Board Member of EDP Group, ChargeUp Europe Board Member
“As we advance towards decarbonization, integrating electric vehicles as assets into the grid is crucial for optimizing power usage and grid resources. Bidirectional charging and storage system integration enhance renewable energy integration, fostering a more sustainable and resilient energy system. Also, the exponential growth of technology and the expanding digital environment surrounding customers are cornerstone to the e-mobility landscape. Placing these elements at the core of our policies and applied technologies is key to ensure a seamless and coherent experience.”
Sofia Diakhate, COO of Plugsurfing, ChargeUp Europe Board Member
"While we welcome AFIR, it is important to understand that it is only the first step required in bringing more clarity for EV drivers. Article 5 outlines many requirements for ad-hoc charging, but also customers having accounts with chosen mobility service providers deserve such clear and transparent pricing as well. Additionally, requiring data sharing from Article 20 doesn’t necessarily solve much in itself if the data is not of high enough quality and shared in real-time —this should be the focus of next waves of regulation.”
Peter Badik, CEO of GreenWay, ChargeUp Europe Board Member
“AFIR is an important milestone in the growth and mainstreaming of e-mobility, especially in the less developed markets of Central & Eastern Europe. However, for us to continue to deploy EV charging to keep up with the growth of the EV fleet, especially for heavy duty vehicles, the grid connection and permitting timelines and complexity need to be addressed. This problem is only growing as demand grows, and it’s the #1 bottleneck we’re facing to the rapid rollout of infrastructure.”
Florian Glattes, Vice President E-Mobility Solutions of Shell Recharge, ChargeUp Europe Board Member
“AFIR is a key moment for e-mobility in the EU, assuring drivers of more and better charging infrastructure. We now call on the EU to further establish and maintain the wider policy framework that enables long term investment certainty and customer demand for EV charging.”
Michiel Langezaal, CEO of FastNed, ChargeUp Europe Board Member
"2024 is the decision-making year for European politics. To encourage the transition to sustainable mobility, it should be made as easy as possible for consumers to use it. Therefore, it is crucial that we achieve a level playing field in Europe for market players.
Vertical integration hampers fair competition by consolidating both the sales of EVs and their charging needs among a number of parties. It creates barriers for consumers to make choices and for new players to enter the market and compete with current players. This results in diminished competitiveness, which impacts the availability of options, quality of services, and price levels for European citizens. The European Union has the responsibility to apply existing competition rules to facilitate the development of a sustainable and competitive charging market. A crucial step towards sustainable mobility in Europe. "
André ten Bloemendal, Senior Vice President (Europe) of ChargePoint, ChargeUp Europe Treasurer
"ChargePoint welcomes the application of AFIR, especially as we are one of the first to support the market with AFIR compliant hardware. While the targets will help drive the market for overall EV uptake, we believe countries should go beyond the bare minimum especially when it comes to e-HDV infrastructure to accelerate the e-mobility business case for all drivers. "
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Media contacts:
Annija Bertule annija@chargeupeurope.eu
About ChargeUp Europe
ChargeUp Europe is the industry association for the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure sector. Our association works to accelerate the switch to zero emission mobility and ensure that EV drivers can enjoy a seamless charging experience with access to high quality, readily available charging infrastructure across Europe. As of today, our 33 member companies are active in all 27 EU Member States, the UK and EFTA, with over 300,000 charging points in the EU.
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ChargeUp Europe is delighted to present its newly elected Committee Chairs for 2024, who will lead the development of the work in their respective committees. They will join the Board of Directors and the Secretariat in leading the association and its work, following the General Assembly of the Members and Board elections that took place on 22 February 2024.
ChargeUp Europe welcomes Edenred as Full Industry Member
ChargeUp Europe is delighted to welcome Edenred as its latest member. Edenred, a leading digital platform for services and payments, offers more than 90 programs enabling its customers in Europe and Latin America to efficiently manage their mobility, optimize their costs and reduce their carbon footprint. As part of its Beyond 22-25 strategic plan, Edenred aims to continue to extend its range of value-added services to become the global platform for greener corporate mobility.
For further information, visit https://www.edenred.com/en/group/mobility
“In the light of the acceleration of its E-mobility activities, Edenred is looking forward to joining ChargeUp Europe – a highly-recognized and dynamic organization – in order to ease up its integration in the ecosystem and contribute to shape, as an industry, policy work and research. We contemplate bringing to ChargeUp Europe and its members our technical and commercial expertise in Emobility based on our first active markets, and our customer knowledge” said Diane Coliche, Chief Operating Officer, Mobility, of Edenred.
Read full PR with contact information here.
ChargeUp Europe Members Elect a New Board
On 22 February 2024, ChargeUp Europe’s General Assembly of the Members held elections for the Board of ChargeUp Europe. Five seats were up for (re)election. They were filled by Allego, ChargePoint, EVBox & Shell Recharge, who were re-elected, while Plugsurfing is joining the Board for the first time. The new and re-elected Board members are joining BP Pulse, EDP, GreenWay, and FastNed.
Read the full press release here.
ChargeUp Europe welcomes OMV as Full Industry Member
ChargeUp Europe welcomes OMV as its latest member. OMV is transitioning to become a leading sustainable fuels, chemicals and materials company with a focus on circular economy solutions. The company is rolling out a comprehensive network of e-charging stations in central and eastern Europe. The implementation includes the installation of 2,000 charging points by 2030 to offer high-power chargers, with the majority ranging from 150kW to 300kW charging capacity. This forms part of the company’s path to becoming a net-zero company by 2050, thereby contributing to a successful energy transition.
Find out more about them here.
ChargeUp Europe welcomes IONITY as Full Industry Member
ChargeUp Europe, the voice of the EV charging infrastructure industry in Europe, is delighted to welcome IONITY as its latest member. IONITY operates a network of high-power charging stations along highways in 24 European countries. All charging stations are open to electric vehicles of any brand, with several high-power charging points to recharge a vehicle’s battery in the shortest time possible. Sourcing renewable energy only, IONITY is a driving force for sustainable mobility.
For further information, go to ionity.eu
“IONITY is a leader in electric vehicle charging on the long distance. We are committed to further advance industry standards and regulation to ultimately offer all EV drivers a seamless and hassle-free user experience”, said Michael Hajesch, CEO of IONITY. Commenting on the announcement, ChargeUp Europe Secretary General Lucie Mattera stated: "We are delighted to welcome IONITY to our growing ChargeUp Europe membership. IONITY stands for long distance electric travel across Europe and will be right at home in ChargeUp Europe!"
See full PR with press contacts here.
ChargeUp Europe welcomes Alpitronic as the 30th Full Industry Member
ChargeUp Europe, the voice of the EV charging infrastructure industry in Europe, is proud to announce that Alpitronic has joined the association as a full industry member. Alpitronic is the 30th full industry member to join the association since it was formally established in December 2020, marking a significant milestone.
Alpitronic, a distinguished manufacturer of EV chargers and power electronics testing solutions for the automotive and industrial industries, brings invaluable expertise and innovation to the ChargeUp Europe membership. Since 2017, Alpitronic has been renowned for its DC fast chargers designed for electric vehicles in the power range between 50 kW and 400 kW. The products, managed under the Hypercharger brand, exemplify their commitment to delivering high-performance and reliable charging solutions. With a compact footprint and advanced design, these solutions aim to contribute to the future of e-mobility.
For more information, visit Alpitronic’s website.
"We are delighted to welcome Alpitronic to ChargeUp Europe as our 30th full industry member! The collaboration with Alpitronic marks a pivotal moment for ChargeUp Europe, emphasizing the importance of collective efforts in advancing a seamless charging experience for EV drivers of all types. We look forward to involving Alpitronic in our group of industry leaders, pooling expertise to accelerate the transition to e-mobility.” said Lucie Mattera, Secretary General of ChargeUp Europe.
This partnership underscores the commitment of both ChargeUp Europe and Alpitronic to contribute significantly to the growth of electric mobility. Together, they will continue to work towards a seamless EV charging experience, playing a decisive role in shaping the future of e-mobility across the continent.
Highlighting the importance of this collaboration, Philipp Senoner, the CEO of Alpitronic, said,
“We are delighted to announce our membership in ChargeUp Europe. This collaboration provides us with various opportunities for development, including direct communication with policymakers and active engagement with the community in a supportive environment dedicated to a shared industry cause. We look forward to actively participating in the dynamic ChargeUp Europe community, gaining knowledge from other partners, and contributing our expertise to collectively drive the future of clean energy.”
See the full PR with press contacts here.
ChargeUp Europe welcomes IES Synergy as Full Industry Member
ChargeUp Europe, the voice of the EV charging infrastructure industry in Europe, is delighted to welcome IES Synergy as its latest member company.
Founded in 1992 in France, IES SYNERGY is an international player in sustainable mobility. As a pioneer in the field of electromobility, the company designs and assembles advanced recharging solutions for electric vehicles. With a global presence spanning nearly 50 countries through direct operations and strategic partnerships, IES Synergy has emerged as a key international player in the creation and manufacturing of cutting-edge battery charging solutions for the latest generations of electric vehicles. IES Synergy's ambition is to maintain its leadership in the electric mobility sector by continuing to innovate and meet the challenges of the global energy transition. The company is determined to provide advanced and sustainable electric recharging solutions while offering an efficient and local service.
For further information, go to the website of IES Synergy.
“We're proud to be joining Charge Up to continue extending a model of sustainable mobility in Europe through our charging systems”, said Jérôme Arnaud, Chief Executive Officer of IES Synergy.
Commenting on the announcement, ChargeUp Europe Secretary General Lucie Mattera said, “We are delighted to welcome IES Synergy to ChargeUp Europe. Their expertise in designing and manufacturing electric vehicle charging solutions will undoubtedly enrich the collaborative efforts of our diverse membership. Together, we aim to address the challenges and opportunities in the rapidly growing electric mobility sector and foster a sustainable and inclusive future for e-mobility in Europe."
Read the PR with media contacts here.
ChargeUp Europe welcomes the official publication of AFIR
The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) sets the framework for public EV charging for the coming years.
Read the press-release here.
ChargeUp Europe welcomes Drake & Farrell as Full Industry Member
ChargeUp Europe, the voice of the EV charging infrastructure industry in Europe, is delighted to welcome Drake & Farrell as its latest member. Drake & Farrell is a top provider of circular supply chain solutions, partnering with CPOs and hardware producers to give them a higher degree of control over the lifecycle of their products and increase the potential for reusing and recycling their charging stations and their components. Drake & Farrell fully repairs or refurbishes faulty charging stations to their original state when possible and dismantles them when repair or refurbish is not possible. The charging stations themselves, or their spare parts and materials, then get a second life by being used to replace other charging stations. These parts are quality controlled and tested before reuse. For parts that cannot be reused, the materials are recycled and find their way back into the circular economy in a new form, reducing e-waste and saving resources. Drake & Farrell also provides the tools to help its partners investigate and better understand the root causes of possible hardware issues and solve them with greater precision. With over 15 years of experience in supply chain circularity, Drake & Farrell is a frontrunner in supporting the electric mobility sector with multiple forward and reverse process solutions. On a pilot project, it was observed that over 50 percent of the charging stations could be successfully repaired and reused. For the remaining stations, parts and components could be successfully harvested to further improve customer support efforts and reduce environmental impact.
“With the first generation of EV charging equipment gradually being replaced, the need for an industry wide closed-loop solution for returns is inevitable. Perfectly in line with the Drake & Farrell purpose to continue fighting global e-waste, we support the entire EV industry in compliantly returning, refurbishing and dismantling of de-installed equipment”, said David Engel, CEO of Drake & Farrell.
Commenting on the announcement, ChargeUp Europe Secretary General Lucie Mattera stated, "We warmly welcome Drake & Farrell to ChargeUp Europe. As the sector is gradually maturing, Drake & Farrell will bring unique expertise, insights and services on circularity opportunities, and how circularity can contribute to reduce costs along the EV charging value chain, on top of supporting resilient supply chains.
Read the full PR with media contacts here.
ChargeUp Europe welcomes DKV Mobility as Full Industry Member
ChargeUp Europe, the voice of the EV charging infrastructure industry in Europe, is delighted to welcome DKV Mobility as its latest member. DKV Mobility is the leading B2B platform for on-the- road payments and solutions, serving over 314,000 active customers across Europe with services and products to make mobility more efficient, seamless, and convenient. From charging infrastructure to planning and design and from advice to installation and electricity products, DKV Mobility offers customized supply solutions for electric vehicles and provides a complete and transparent supply service for electric vehicles – on the road, at home or at the workplace. Enabled by GreenFlux, DKV Mobility is offering an acceptance network of 468,000 charge points all over Europe. As part of DKV Mobility, GreenFlux is a primary contributor to accelerating EV charging infrastructure rollout in Europe. The company's SaaS platform enables CPOs and eMSPs to operate and scale their EV charging networks and driver services. Together DKV Mobility and GreenFlux drive the transition towards an efficient and sustainable future of mobility.
“We are pleased to join ChargeUp Europe and thus contribute our expertise in times of the mobility transition to help e-mobility become a full success throughout Europe by providing the best possible, customer-oriented supply solutions”, said Christopher Schäckermann, Director eMobility at DKV Mobility.
Commenting on the announcement, ChargeUp Europe Secretary General Lucie Mattera stated, "We are delighted to welcome DKV Mobility to ChargeUp Europe as they scale their overall EV charging offer across Europe. With the addition of DKV Mobility to our membership, our expertise and voice of commercial fleets will be strengthened even further."
Read the full PR and media contacts here.
ChargeUp Europe welcomes Driveco as Full Industry Member
ChargeUp Europe, the voice of the EV charging infrastructure industry in Europe, is delighted to welcome Driveco as its latest member.
Driveco is a leading innovative electric vehicle charging company, whose mission is to bring electric mobility within everyone's reach. Founded in 2010 with the aim of decarbonising the transport industry, Driveco is a trailblazing company operating the second largest French electric vehicles charging network open to the public. It has over 8,000 charging points in operation or under construction. Convinced of the necessity to play its role in the reindustrialization of Europe, Driveco assembles its own 22kW charger in Angers, France and prioritizes European-made high-power chargers of 50kW, 150kW, 300kW and more.
With more than 10 years of experience in the electric charging sector, the French company recently announced a 250 million euros record fundraising round for the sector in France from the Dutch pension fund manager APG. Existing shareholders Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers dedicated to sustainable investments, and Corsica Sole retain their majority stake in the company’s capital. This investment will support Driveco in strengthening its position in France, accelerate its internationalisation strategy into Europe and consolidate its technological innovation to provide a seamless experience for electric vehicle drivers.
“We are pleased to join ChargeUp and be part of a network of committed actors that are working towards meeting the EU’s green agenda objectives, including Fit for 55, by supporting the rollout of electric charging stations throughout Europe. Our goal is to open over 60,000 charging points in Europe by continuing Driveco’s development in France and Belgium and expanding our operations into Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. The objective is to enable the charging of over 1.2 million vehicles per year for their entire annual travels, thus avoiding the emission of 3 million tonnes of CO2,” said Ion Leahu-Aluas, CEO of Driveco.
ChargeUp Europe Secretary General Lucie Mattera stated, "We are delighted to welcome Driveco to ChargeUp Europe. Building on its current momentum, Driveco can further strengthen ChargeUp Europe’s voice on the integration of renewable energy sources, and help drive a strong road transport decarbonisation agenda at the service of EV users.”
For further information, go to www.driveco.com
Read the full PR and access the media contacts here.
ChargeUp Europe welcomes Zunder as Full Industry Member
Zunder is the leading independent fast and ultra-fast charging operator for all electric vehicles in Spain. The company has the support of international investors such as White Summit Capital or Mirova, which recently invested 100 million euros in the company.
The growth of the company is not limited to the Spanish territory. In 2022 it began its international expansion, having won its first public tender in France and reaffirming its ambition to deploy and operate more than 4,000 charging stations and manage more than 40,000 charge points through its platform in 2025, with an investment plan of €300M for that same period.
Saul Lopez, Director for International Development at Zunder, said, “Zunder is excited to join the voice of the EV charging infrastructure industry in Europe. We have a strong position in Spain, and we will continue deploying our fast-charging hubs in Europe with a focus on France, Italy, and Portugal. Joining forces with ChargeUp Europe is hence a natural step for us as we share common goals, such as working towards an expeditious and effortless rollout of EV charging infrastructure in Europe.”
Commenting on the announcement, ChargeUp Europe Secretary General Lucie Mattera stated, "We are thrilled to welcome Zunder as the 27th member of ChargeUp Europe. Their diverse charging infrastructure, and a fast-developing state-of-the-art network makes our alliance even stronger. It is our privilege to join forces towards a broad and speedy rollout of EV charging infrastructure, enabling transport decarbonisation in the EU."
Please find the PR and press contacts here.
ChargeUp Europe welcomes Electra as Full Industry Member
Electra is a French charging network founded in 2021. It is developing a public fast-charging network with high-power hubs all around France, focusing on major and medium-sized urban areas. To support the goal of speeding up the development of the French charging network, Electra’s focus on user experience is central. Electra is present in Italy, Belgium and will soon be arriving in Switzerland, Austria and Spain. To this end, Electra plans to have more than 8,000 charging stations by 2030. In November 2022, Automobile propre voted Electra as the second-best charging network in France. Last week, the company has joined the French Tech Next40, a government support programme dedicated to the most promising French scale-ups and future European heavyweights.
"We are delighted to join ChargeUp Europe in a desire to speak with one voice for the needs of the recharging industry, in the context of an emerging market. We have a lot to offer each other with a common mission: to evangelise the transition towards more sustainable mobility," explained Aurelien de Meaux, CEO of Electra.
ChargeUp Europe, the voice of the EV charging infrastructure industry in Europe, is delighted to welcome Electra as its newest member. Commenting on the announcement, Secretary General Lucie Mattera stated, “We are thrilled to welcome Electra into ChargeUp Europe as its 26th member. Electra is bringing their strong focus on the user experience and dedication to deploying fast-charging hubs to our work, and we look forward to continuing structuring the sector with them, and the rest of the ChargeUp Europe membership.”xq
Please find the PR and press contacts here.
ChargeUp Europe Members Elect 2023 Leadership Team
ChargeUp Europe, the voice of the EV charging infrastructure industry in Europe, is delighted to announce its new, 2023 Committee Chairs, who lead the development of the work in their respective committees. They join the Board of Director and Secretary General Lucie Mattera, in leading the association and its work.
Read the full press release here.
ChargeUp Europe Elects Board Members
On 9 February 2023, ChargeUp Europe’s General Assembly of the Members held elections for the Board of ChargeUp Europe. Four seats were up for (re)election. They were filled by EDP, Fastned and GreenWay, who were re-elected, while BP is joining the Board as a new member company. The new and re-elected Board members are joining ABL+reev, Shell, as well as ChargeUp Europe founders Allego, ChargePoint and EVBox.
Read the full press release here.
Future-proof & user-centric: Making AFIR fit for 35 and beyond
On 23 November, ChargeUp Europe hosted a webinar on the ongoing trilogue negotiations on the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR). The webinar featured speakers from ChargeUp membership: Franco Barbieri (evway), Aaron Fishbone (GreenWay) and Tanya Sinclair (ChargePoint). The webinar was moderated by Lucie Mattera, the Secretary General of ChargeUp Europe. Broadly, the webinar examined the following topics:
Targets: the goal of targets should be to kickstart the market in places where it is most needed. Only with ambitious capacity-based targets we can prevent a two-speed Europe from developing and meet the EUs climate targets in time.
Roaming: the primary way that EV drivers charge out of network, both nationally and internationally – therefor AFIR must include roaming in its scope. Only with roaming we give the freedom of choice to the driver and that’s what we are all aiming for.
Retrofits: instead of focusing on rolling back by retrofitting perfectly functioning public AC chargers, we should be focusing on rolling out a lot more public EV charging infrastructure as rapidly as possible to meet the growing demand.
Grids: as grid connection timeline and complexity issues are the largest bottleneck CPOs across Europe face when it comes to rolling out more charging infrastructure. Addressing this key obstacle is crucial
Watch the full webinar below!
ChargeUp Europe welcomes Hubject as Ecosystem Partner
ChargeUp Europe, the voice of the EV charging infrastructure industry in Europe, is excited to announce Hubject as its 6th ecosystem partner, expanding the overall scope and reach of the association, which now consists of 24 full industry members as well as six ecosystem partners. This partnership brings major industry players into alignment and collaboration on the shared, core goal of developing an open, harmonized, pan-European Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (EVCI) marketplace which makes charging easy for EV drivers, and enables them to speak with one voice.
One key enabler for the smooth and fast uptake of electro-mobility in Europe will be the possibility for EV drivers to charge anywhere and get connected to open charging networks. Roaming between publicly accessible charging networks is critical for EV drivers to be able to drive smoothly and reliably and for the development of a single European EV infrastructure market. Direct peer to peer roaming connections between charging service companies or connections with eRoaming hubs like Hubject are the primary ways that EV drivers can conveniently get access to and recharge their EV outside of their home network.
Hubject and ChargeUp Europe both believe that for an open market model to exist, EVCI interoperability must be a central tenet. This interoperability depends on the use of open, free to use, non-discriminatory protocols and standards available to all players on the market on equal terms. The principles of an open, interoperable market should be supported by a robust regulatory framework at the EU level.
In the context of the ongoing Green Deal legislative proposals from the EU Commission, ChargeUp Europe, in line with its foundational values, is a strong advocate of open protocols and standards in order to spur market competition and ensure a level playing field in the various communication domains of EV charging.
Hubject’s own platform plays an important role in an interoperable European eRoaming market. Its platform allows market players, regardless of their business approach, size or place in the value chain, to participate. The platform provides a low barrier for entry, is non-discriminatory in nature, ensures open and equal access. It’s importance in the EV infrastructure industry is evidenced by the number of market players who connect with the platform.
Read the full press release here.
ChargeUp Europe statement on keeping the digital and green transition to e-mobility on track amid an energy crisis
ChargeUp Europe:
Recognises that the European Union is facing the unprecedented, short-term challenge of managing shortages, extreme price volatility and high prices in gas and electricity markets while also confronting the climate crisis and managing the transition to cleaner, more resilient and sustainable energy systems.
Calls for recognition that it is of critical importance that the long-term objective of decarbonization and the digital and green transition to e-mobility are not sacrificed as EU institutions and national governments seek to alleviate short-term pressure.
Read the full statement here.