With over 14,000 DC charging stations installed, the Swiss ABB group is among the biggest suppliers of charging infrastructure. The market is developing quickly and will continue to change at a rapid pace in the coming years.

EnBW and Smatrics found Smatrics mobility+ GmbH. The joint venture aims to operate the largest charging network in Austria and, above all, to expand high power charging. All Smatrics charging stations will be transferred to the new operating company.

Together with partner HDI, Mercedes-Benz Bank now offers “comprehensive” insurance cover for hybrid and electric vehicles. The new electric protection module is automatically added to insurance policies for EVs and thus does not incur any additional costs.

Slovakian navigation specialist Sygic has introduced an electric car mode to its App Sygic GPS Navigation. The new EV Mode allows route planning with compatible charging points, payment without installing an additional app and real-time data from the stations.

EV powertrain developer Lightning Systems has just announced Lightning Mobile, a mobile DC fast charger for electric vehicles. The mobile fast charger can be quickly deployed to provide fast roadside charging to support the operation of electric fleet commercial vehicles.

After first giving us his polarising observations on how not to make it in the business of charging infrastructure in last week’s guest contribution, the mobility consultant and former Hubject CEO Thomas Daiber now delivers the five biggest Do’s for growth and lasting success.

In Germany, applications for funding for the development of charging infrastructure can be submitted again with immediate effect and all online. An important exception for customer parking spaces is new.

According to latest insider information, charging infrastructure operator Allego is cutting a significant number of jobs. The offices in the Benelux countries and Germany are particularly affected.

The energy supplier Fortum has signed an agreement to sell a majority stake of its public charging station operator Fortum Recharge to Infracapital. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2020.

Deficient business models and a hardware-intensive struggle for locations: Looking back, the former Hubject boss Thomas Daiber sees the ramp-up of the e-mobility charging infrastructure as a permanent turning into dangerous dead ends.

China’s two largest power utilities, State Grid and China Southern Power Grid, are investing heavily in the expansion of charging infrastructure. State Grid plans to provide 2.7 billion yuan this year alone, and China Southern Power Grid plans to provide 25.1 billion yuan within four years.

Blink Charging announced the launch of its new mobile charging station. The free-standing mobile charging station supports 240-volt AC charging and provides up to 9.6kW of charge to electric vehicles.

EVBox and has·to·be have entered into a roaming partnership. Under the terms of the agreement, both companies will grant each other access to their charging networks distributed across Europe.

Allego, ChargePoint and EVBox have formed the ‘ChargeUp Europe’ e-mobility alliance to accelerate the development of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Europe.

The Dutch charging network operator Fastned has published its annual report for 2019. The turnover generated by charging services increased by 178 per cent to 4.5 million euros compared to 2018.

Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, not only are the production lines in most electric car plants at a standstill but now first effects on charging infrastructure are becoming apparent. This concerns both the production of charging points and the maintenance and distribution of the pillars.

There’s a curbside charging solution from India as Magenta Power unveils a street lamp charge post. The ChargeGrid Flare, designed in partnership with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is for the Indian market first.

As the e-mobility market in Europe approaches adolescence, the option to charge anywhere without having to sign up for multiple providers – roaming, in short, becomes crucial. So we set up a digital meeting with the minds behind two of Europe’s longest-standing providers.

Siemens unveils the first street in the UK that has been completely converted for charging electric vehicles. The Sutherland Avenue in London is over half a mile long and was renamed Electric Avenue, W9.

On the occasion of its tenth anniversary as a manufacturer of forklifts running on lithium iron phosphate batteries, BYD has presented an innovation in this field: Their new dual charging system. They are also launching the new generation of their PTP20P pallet truck.

Iberdrola is expanding their plans to build charging infrastructure for electric cars: The Spanish energy provider plans to invest 150 million euros over the next five years in the installation of 150,000 charging points in households, companies and cities, as well as on motorways and main roads.

Gridserve has today announced that the first of a nationwide network of over 100 Electric Forecourts is now under construction and will open this summer. UK firm’s first solar-powered site in Essex will house 24 rapid chargers, a supermarket and an EV education centre.

Until now, ABB used the name Terra for DC charging stations, but now the Swiss company has expanded its range with the Terra AC Wallbox for charging electric cars at home. The new wall box offers up to 22 kW and is scheduled to be available worldwide from May 2020.

Volkswagen has agreed to a three-year partnership with the British energy supplier Centrica to provide home charging solutions and services for VW’s electric car customers in the UK. The offers will be handled specifically by the Volkswagen subsidiary Elli and the Centrica brand British Gas.

EVBox partner Hollander Techniek has installed 124 charging points on the campus of Wageningen University in the Netherlands. The charging point each have an output of 11 kW and are meant for guests and employees of Unilever’s Global Foods Innovation Center at the University.

Porsche has just announced that its charging network called Porsche Destination Charging is to grow by around 900 new locations by the end of this year. The network currently comprises 1,035 AC charging points in around 20 countries. Porsche customers with a Taycan or plug-in hybrid model may use these free of charge.

General Motors has announced that it will install 3,500 new charging points for its employees’ electric cars at its sites in the USA and Canada. This is triple the current number.

Honda intends to introduce the energy management service e:Progress in Europe this year. The basis for the electricity tariff is a flexible energy contract tailored to owners of electric cars.

Share&Charge has just launched the Open Charging Network (OCN). The aim is to create a charging roaming network that will make digital communication between charging point operators, eMobility service providers and other market participants easier, safer and more cost-effective.

In the USA, Maine Public Utilities Commission has approved four pilot projects to manage $500,000 dollars in incentives towards EV charging stations across the state. Central Maine Power and Efficiency Maine Trust (EMT) were chosen for the four pilot projects that should inform future policies to support EV deployment in Maine.