In Germany, Siemens Smart Infrastructure has received an order from Regensburger Verkehrsbetriebe to equip their bus depot. Siemens will supply both charging infrastructure and power supply technology.

In Germany, the Dutch charging infrastructure specialist Allego has started to increase the charging capacity from 50 to 150 kW at 40 fast-charging locations built as part of the EU Fast-E project. In selected locations, 300 kW fast chargers will also be installed.

Statkraft makes another acquisition in the field of charging infrastructure: The Norwegian state-owned energy company announces the takeover of 51 per cent of the shares of the Swedish provider Bee Charging Solutions. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.

In the UK, Pod Point has just announced that they will be expanding their existing agreement with Lidl stores with the installation 50 more fast chargers than originally envisaged. This means that the total number should soon be 350 fast chargers in total.

Nimble Energy has come up with a mobile charging solution for electric cars. The Czech startup, specialised in energy storage and charging stations, is building an on-demand service called Nimbee for drivers seeking to charge on the go.

Nissan and Spain’s petrochemical company Repsol have made a deal to, as they say, “promote electric mobility in Spain”. To start with, Repsol will install 15 fast-charging stations at their pitstops and offer discounts for Nissan EV drivers.

The InterEnergy Group has ordered 50 charging stations from Blink as they expand the Evergo network into Panama. The order consists of 35 Level 2 charging stations and 15 Blink DC fast-chargers and, there are more on the line.

Israel’s Electreon has joined the eCharge project conducted by the TU Braunschweig with funding through the German government. The consortium also includes Volkswagen and Eurovia. Electreon will deliver its wireless in-road charging technology.

EVBox Group’s Everon presents a charging management platform designed to give fleet and site managers more control over the performance of their EV charging infrastructure with the new ‘Business Portal’ software.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the state’s Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) aim to develop a statewide fast-charging network for electric vehicles. The interstate and major highways shall see a station every 50 miles.

The Polish charging infrastructure provider Ekoenergetyka has installed 17 depot charging stations for electric buses in the German town of Aachen. Each has a capacity of 75 kW, and another ten of these charging stations are to follow in mid-2021.

Tesla has officially commissioned its charging infrastructure production facility in Shanghai to build the Supercharger V3 for China. Media reports are also circulating that Tesla could buy into BYD – but the latter denies this.

Spain’s charging solutions supplier Wallbox closed a €33 million financing round led by new investors Cathay Innovation and Wind Ventures. Existing investors such as Iberdrola and Seaya Ventures were also on board.

Ford is expanding its business partnership with BP by adding BP pulse, the British public charging network, to the Ford Pass.

South Korea plans to install 3,000 new fast-charging stations for electric cars throughout 2021. The Ministry of Finance also plans to include 43 ultra-fast charging stations for the first time this year and will subsidise carmakers to secure sites for at least another 80 HPC stations.

Volkswagen’s dieselgate subsidiary Electrify America, has launched a new business unit called Electrify Commercial. EC is charged with providing charging equipment and services to business, utilities and government agencies. The latest client is in Arizona.

FreeWire Technologies has gained $50 million in a Series C funding round, led by Riverstone Holdings, with participation from current shareholders such as BP ventures. The new investment will enable FreeWire to accelerate international market expansion of its Boost Charger and expand production capacity.

In the UK, the West Midlands will get a boost to its electric vehicle infrastructure, following Warwickshire County Council’s award of a £584,000 contract to BP pulse. The former BP Chargemaster will install over 100 charge points across the region.

The British hotel chain Premier Inn has commissioned the energy group Engie to supply up to 1,000 fast charging points for electric cars. They plan to set up 600 charging points with more than 50 kW capacity at 300 hotels within the next three years.

Volvo Group has formed a new business division, Volvo Energy, to streamline electrification. They will look to bundle internal activities around energy and charging but also provide used batteries to external customers for energy storage solutions.

Aral aims to complete the installation of more than 100 HPC charging points at 30 German service stations before the end of this quarter and has commissioned Siemens Smart Infrastructure to provide smarter grid connections at the service stations.

Volkswagen has just announced in a talk with electrive that it will develop Vehicle2Grid functions for its electric vehicles. VW called for much closer cooperation between the automotive industry, the energy sector and politicians to make bidirectional charging a success.

The British mapping service Zap-Map has asked more than 1,500 users, which charge points they like best. The company’s annual electric vehicle charging network satisfaction rankings included 16 providers in 2020.

Shell wants to take over the Berlin-based charging infrastructure specialist Ubitricity. Subject to antitrust approval, the deal is expected to close this year. Once the agreement is completed, Ubitricity is expected to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell.

Sweden’s Bee Charging Solutions AB has chosen Alfen to supply the company with smart charge points for electric vehicles. The companies signed a framework agreement for an initial period of three years.

Transport for London (TfL) says it has now installed nearly 6,000 electric vehicle charging points across the British capital in time for the soon-to-be expanded Ultra-Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ).

Because the expansion of the Ionity fast-charging network is progressing too slowly, the owners are discussing attracting private equity capital for Ionity. According to a media report, financial circles are talking about at least 500 million euros in fresh money.

Centrica, a UK energy company which also owns British Gas, has released new research which reveals that councils are planning to install an average of only 35 on-street electric vehicle chargers, between now and 2025.

Siemens Smart Infrastructure released its new public fast charger Sicharge D. They claim it provides the highest peak efficiencies on the market at 96 per cent. It also features scalable, high charging power of up to 300 kW and dynamic power-sharing.

Ad-supported EV charging network developer Volta announced an oversubscribed Series D financing of $125 million. The fundraising brings the company’s total equity financing to over $200 million.