The joint venture Smatrics mobility+, founded by EnBW and Smatrics, is now starting its operations following the approval of the cartel authorities in Germany and Austria. The new company intends to operate the largest charging network in Austria and, above all, expand the number of high-performance chargers.

NOW GmbH, the new National Centre for Charging Infrastructure in Germany, is inviting tenders for the construction and operation of the largest rapid charging network yet to be built in the country. As if to say, the market has failed, now the state does the talking.

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.

The Austrian charging station operator Smatrics has expanded their European roaming network. Thanks to the cooperation with Enel X, users may now access around 4,000 charging points in Italy and 1,900 EnBW chargers in Germany.

The energy group EnBW announces the construction of a further 2,000 fast charging points at up to 1,000 locations throughout Germany. Completion by the end of 2020 was named as the time window. The declared aim by the company is to provide customers with comprehensive rapid charging in the DACH region.

Bosch is working with EnBW, an utility in Germany’s south, on a prototype for a charging process based on blockchain technology. The entire process – from the selection of the charging station to reservation and payment – is simplified and tailored to the customer’s needs.

Shell is starting to build high power chargers at its gas stations in Germany. This year, the oil company plans to build 50 charging stations across the country, with a total of 100 charging points and a capacity of at least 150 kilowatts. Further charging stations are to follow.

A project titled ZUKUNFT.DE plans to provide 500 electric transporters in the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Hamburg and Hessen for urban package delivery services in cities. Four large logistics providers have joined forces to bring the initiative to life.

German Hagebau that owns DIY stores not unlike the British Homebase has teamed up with utility EnBW. Together they plan the installation of 100 fast charging stations at their improvement retail stores in Germany and potentially Austria, starting this year.

The real estate developer ECE is receiving some support for the development of the charging infrastructure at their shopping centres, and have begun a cooperation with EnBW. They plan to supply 37 ECE shopping centres with four wallbox chargers each.

South Germany’s utility EnBW has launched a pilot project to see, whether the local grid can withstand peak demand from eleven electric cars charging on one street. The neighbourhood in question is in a town close to Stuttgart and has been renamed E-Mobility Allee.

Electronics retailer Euronics that operates stores in all of Europe has teamed up with utility EnBW to install charging stations at 50 locations in Germany. Customers will receive a charging voucher that can be used at any station in the EnBW network.

EnBW, the main energy provider in Germany’s south, has forged a new partnership that will result in a high power charging network located on the home turf of BMW, Daimler and Porsche. And this time, the HPC stops won’t be limited to motorways alone.

German autobahn service company Tank & Rast has implemented a publicly subsidised network of 50kW multi-chargers at the majority of its 400 locations. In an interview with electrive.com, Jörg Hofmeister, the company’s electric mobility specialist, reveals how the charging parks are progressing.

Ultra-fast-charging the Nordics: The partnership of E.On and Danish Clever reaps its first fruit, a cooperation with Norwegian pit stop provider XY. 20 of its service stations will be equipped with fast-chargers that deliver 150 kW but can go up to 350 kW if required. But E.On and Clever are not alone in their endeavour. Fortum Charge & Drive announced its plan to open a rapid-charging corridor connecting capitals. Electric cars travelling between Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki would be able to charge at 150 kW in-between. The first four of such fast-charging stops shall be erected this year.
eon.com (Norway), iwr.de (Fortum)

Fast-charging along the Autobahn: 100 fast-charging stations will be installed by German utility EnBW together with service station operator Tank & Rast. The EV pit stops will offer charging at 50 kW (AC 43 kW) with the option to upgrade to 150 kW. They are multi-chargers that connect to Type 2, CCS and CHAdeMO and will line motorways in Germany’s south and southwest.
enbw.com (in German)

Charging Switzerland faster: The Swiss-wide fast-charging network initiative GOFAST found a new investor in Energie 360°. Gotthard Fastcharge (GOFAST) reportedly wants to install at least 150 EV charging station offering 150 kW and more across Switzerland.
gofastcharge.com

Korea’s first FCV sharing is about to start in the city of Gwangju. 15 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell are available to book online and form a fleet with another 27 battery-electric cars. The programme is a government initiative and serves as testbed.
yonhapnews.co.krh, koreatimes.co.kr

More than 200,000 electric and plug-in hybrid cars were sold in Europe for the first time in 2016, the European Alternative Fuels Observatory (EAFO) reports. And those figures don’t even include December sales.
eafo.eu

Ultra-fast charging at 350 kW: An ultra-fast EV charging network is to go up in Europe through the ‘Ultra-E’ EU pilot project. 25 stations with CCS connection delivering up to 350 kW will stretch along the TEN-T corridors that run through Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands from 2018. Current electric cars will charge at 50 kW. Audi, BMW, Renault, Hubject, Allego and Smatrics are on board.
electrek.co

EV charge network for NYC: The New York Power Authority has made 300 locations available for the installation of EV charging stations by local governments. Technology will be provided at low cost by the state authority via ChargeNY. The scheme targets 3,000 stations by 2018 and has realised 50% so far.
news10.com, governor.ny.gov

California to adapt EV incentives: The golden state increases incentives for PHEV by 500 dollars for those on lower income. At the same time, from Nov,1, California raises the high income cap so those in excess of it will be not eligible for funding anymore with the exception of FCV.
businesswire.com

Renault roaming: Renault’s ZE pass is valid in France, too. Here, EV drivers can use the app and RFID chip to plug in at 1,600 EV charging stations of the roaming initiative Gireve.
avere-france.org

Cross-company payment: 700 charge points of EnBW in German now allow for direct payments via Hubject’s intercharge direct system. No contract or prepaid card is required.
hubject.com

LAPD eyes Tesla: The Los Angeles Police Department drives BMW i3 reportedly, yet the Model S is still on trial in full police gear. The law enforcement’s biggest worry so far is price, hence why it opted for BMW initially, but the LADP intends to acquire 100 more electric cars within this year.
autoblog.com, autoguide.com, nbclosangeles.com (with video)

AirBnB a la Daimler: The carmaker is looking to start off a peer-to-peer carsharing service in German and the U.S. next month, allowing people to rent out their leased Mercedes or Smart to others. It is part of Daimler’s new strategy CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Shared, Electric), which it announced at the Paris Auto Show last week.
autocar.co.uk

Fuel cell in China: 12 fuel cell buses from Ballard Power Systems will hit the road in the Chinese city of Foshan. The delivery is part of a deal between Ballard and the cities of Foshan and Yunfu, according to which the OEM will deliver a total of 300 H2 buses to the two cities (we reported).
greencarcongress.com

Supercharging Tesla taxis: The EV maker has set a Supercharger with 12 stalls at the Montreal-Trudeau airport in Canada for taxi company Taxelco’s fleet of Tesla Model S. It is therefore the largest privately owned Supercharger. Because it is privately owned, capacity is capped at 60 kW, instead of the regular 120 kW.
electrek.co

Electric delivery: UPS has begun operating 50 hydraulic hybrid delivery trucks from Lightning Hybrids in the Chicago area. The vehicles were first trialled in 2014, and feature a patented parallel hydraulic hybrid system that has no electric batteries. Instead, braking energy is stored in hydraulic pumps and used to power the wheels.
greencarcongress.com

Charging Arizona: The Salt River Project (SRP) and EVgo are installing five fast-chargers with both CCS and CHAdeMO in the towns of Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert and Tempe in the U.S. state of Arizona. SRP also offer a price plan for EV drivers, while providing incentives for business that invent in chargers for the public and/or employees.
azbusinessdaily.com

SM!GHT draws international clientele: One year after introducing its multifunctional street lights, which can also be used to charge EVs, German utility EnBW is happy with its success. More than 85 German cities and municipal utilities already opted for the solution, while enquiries have also arrived from Prague, Stavanger (Norway) and Caloundra (Australia).
enbw.com (in German)

Diesel ban I: German utility EnBW counts 3,600 fleet vehicles – which it is now looking to renew. All diesel cars will successively be replaced by electric and hybrid cars. Just recently, EnBW subsidiary BW Netze took delivery of 50 e-Golf.
dmm.travel

Diesel ban II: The City of London Corporation announced that it will not purchase or lease any new diesel cars. Having established environmental zones, the British capital has been trying to keep diesel cars out.
standard.co.uk

Mega deal in the works? BYD is reportedly hoping to get a 1.52bn yuan deal from the Shenzhen Bus Group for the delivery of hundreds of electric buses. As reported, a big portion of a deal with the city of Shenzhen for nearly 3,000 electric buses had fallen through without further explanation.
scmp.com

BMW Connected for Europe: Already available in the United States, the digital mobility assistant will soon arrive on the old continent. BMW Connected recognizes information like addresses or arrival times from calendars and calculates the best time to leave based on real-time traffic information. Moreover, one can check range and battery charge level for electric and hybrid cars without entering the vehicle, to help plan travels more accurately.
bmwgroup.com

E-carsharing in Singapore: Bolloré will operate its planned electric carsharing in the Asian city state for ten years. On top of delivering 1,000 EVs, it will install 2,000 EV chargers that will be made public after the end contract. Bolloré also wants to locate is Asian-Pacific business in Singapore and will open a research centre there.
eco-business.com