Electric Vehicle Charging

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Mobility for the future

EV Charging Solutions

Mobility is being transformed across the globe. The electricity used to power Electric Vehicles (EVs) needs to be safe, fast and reliable. Wether at home, at work or in public spaces, there are suitable charging solutions that power how we commute. 

Besides the absence of CO2 emissions, electric vehicles offer many other advantages over the typical vehicles powered by fossil fuels.

Average better performance

They are characterized by instant torque and smooth handling due to a lower centre of gravity. Additionally, their structure is lighter and offers faster acceleration than the average fossil fuel-powered vehicle.

Lower costs

While in the short-term EVs might be more expensive to acquire (depending on the model), the long-term ownership of EVs is cheaper than for conventional vehicles with an internal combustion engine. In fact, on average, EVs require less money to be charged than usual vehicles to be filled. This is due to electricity prices being drastically lower than typical fuel prices.

Consider this example. In Germany, the average electricity price was €0.32 per kWh in the second half of 2021. It would cost around €16 to fully charge a medium-sized EV with a 50 kW battery and around €24 to fully charge a large-sized EV with a 75 kW battery. On the contrary, the average gasoline and diesel prices were €1.46 and €1.28. In 2022, the energy crisis caused German electricity prices to rise to €0.40 per kWh a year, moving the respective costs to €20 and €30 approximately. Nevertheless, gasoline and diesel costs rose proportionally, touching €1.93 and €1.82 respectively. This shows that, given a similar vehicle size, EV charging incurs fewer costs than fueling gasoline or diesel vehicles, despite energy price volatility. Furthermore, given that Europe is drastically investing in the green energy transition with renewables producing between 54% and 69% of European electricity by 2030, electricity prices are forecasted to keep on declining.

Lower costs are paired with continuous innovation aimed at increasing the run range of EVs. The average electrical vehicle has a range equal to 341 km, with some brands and models achieving more than 500 km and a few above 600 km.

Less maintenance and reduced maintenance costs

EVs require fewer maintenance costs than conventional vehicles. Electric motors not only last on average 20 years, the life spam of a car, but have also fewer parts. This leads to less damage than a traditional motor, allowing reduced operating costs. According to research by the International Council on Clean Transportation, electric cars are on average about 35% cheaper to maintain than diesel cars and about 75% cheaper to maintain than gasoline cars.

Availability of tax credits and other incentives

Depending on where you live in Europe, you may be eligible for tax credits or other incentives for purchasing an electric car. Our team can provide you with further and tailored information based on which country you intend to install an EV charger.

EVs can be charged everywhere

While a conventional vehicle can only be fuelled at the gas station, EVs can be charged everywhere. Indeed, EV charges can be placed realistically in any spot: at your house, at your workplace, opposite stations along the street, and in public spaces such as parking areas. While their implementation kept on increasing in both 2021 and 2022, especially relative to private installations, the European Union aims to significantly grow the deployment rate of public high-capacity EV chargers, installing charging infrastructure every 60 km on every EU main road by 2026.

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powering mobility

What EV Charging can do for you

Private EV chargers are the most popular nowadays and will account for 90% of EV charging infrastructure by 2030. Having an EV charger installed at your house implies several benefits.

Best Accessibility and Availability

Firstly, it allows for the best availability and accessibility. You can simply plug your car in at night and wake up to a fully charged vehicle in the morning, without having to worry about finding a charging station or waiting for your car to charge while you’re out running errands. This can save you a lot of time and hassle in the long run.

Saving Costs

Another benefit is cost savings. Many utility companies offer lower rates for charging EVs during off-peak hours, which can help you save money on your electric bill. Additionally, because you’re not relying on public charging stations, you won’t have to pay any fees or subscription costs to use them.

Compatible with Solar PV Systems for Maximum Efficiency

Having an EV charger at home can also be more environmentally friendly. Charging your car at home means you can take advantage of renewable energy sources. In fact, EV chargers can be efficiently installed in concomitance with a residential solar PV system. Not only the solar panels allow you to reduce the carbon footprint of your house, but also to decrease your electricity consumption and costs, while shielding your home against energy price volatility. And by deciding to install an optional set of batteries, you will be able to store electricity for future use, especially during power outages or periods of the year when solar irradiation is lower.

Increasing Home Value

Finally, having an EV charger in your house can increase the resale value of your home. As more people make the switch to electric vehicles, having a convenient and reliable charging station in your garage or driveway can be a major selling point for potential buyers.

Benefit from tax credits and incentives

Depending on where you live in Europe, you may be eligible for tax credits or other incentives for installing an EV charger as well as a solar PV system. Our team can provide you with further information based on which country you reside.

An increasing number of businesses are installing an EV charging station for their employees and clients as well as part of their sustainability initiatives. Whether you possess an office building, a warehouse, a manufacturing plant, an auto dealership, a retail store, a gas station or if you are an airport or a train station, you can consider offering EV chargers to benefit strategically, financially and environmentally from.

Strategic & Environmental Advantages

Commercial EV chargers are very convenient for employees who can charge their EVs during working hours and return home with a fully charged vehicle.

They are also attractive for customers driving EVs. This especially applies for retail businesses, as clients with EVs will likely choose retail stores where they can charge their cars while shopping. Additionally, the charging station can attract EV drivers that might not know about your activity beforehand, so that your business foot traffic and visibility will increase. This is extremely effective in areas where public chargers are scarce.

By installing an EV charging station, you can future-proof your business by anticipating trends and regulations, which is best achieved by building EV charging infrastructure in conjunction with solar PV. In fact, the European Union announced its goal to ban new CO2 emitting vehicles by 2035 and require solar rooftop PV systems for new public and commercial buildings with useful floor areas larger than 250 sqm by 2026, and for existing buildings by 2027.

Adopting green energy in the form of an EV charging station as well as in concomitance with Solar Parking can create a sustainable competitive asset. In the former case you can encourage a sustainable habit and thus indirectly contribute to CO2 emissions reduction. In the latter, you can directly reduce the carbon footprint of your building and activity. By doing so, you can attract and retain customers. In fact, 85% of respondents from a 2021 global survey indicated to have shifted their purchase behaviour towards sustainability, with more than a third willing to pay extra for it. In addition, 55% of respondents from another global survey considered environmental responsibility crucial when selecting a brand. Additionally, offering EV charging services with solar parking protection from the elements can improve customer experience by prioritizing their comfort.

Financial Advantages

While your firm or public entity might decide to cover EV charging expenses for employees as part of their remuneration package, it could also decide to use its EV charging stations as a source of revenue. You can do so by charging either workers or customers who recharge their EVs while working or shopping in your building. This is profitable especially for retail stores, airports and other buildings that experience a high traffic of individuals per day. Also, EV drivers that do not directly interact with your building, but either work or live nearby or are simply passing through, can decide to use your parking to charge their vehicles. This not only increases your revenue but also the foot traffic and visibility of your activity.

Finally, if you are planning to reduce the driving costs of your company by purchasing electric vehicles for your operations, you can install EV chargers in your buildings and logistic centres.

Solar power is the future of parking lots, an efficient opportunity to shade your vehicles while powering your building and business.

If your activity has a parking area, whether it is for employees, customers or both, installing solar-powered parking structures on the property can cover multiple functions and yield several advantages.

The Functions

The main purpose is to generate electricity that will be used to power your business. The solar panels placed on top of the supporting construction absorb solar irradiation and convert it into electricity. This can be used to power:

  • Lights
  • Office Equipment
  • Buildings’ cooling, heating and ventilation systems
  • Industrial machinery
  • EV chargers located in the parking lot

If you wish solar energy to cover the whole electricity consumption of your activity and the solar parking alone cannot satisfy this need, you can also consider combining it with the electric power generated by a solar PV system installed on the rooftop of your building. This will allow you to further decrease electricity costs and own a cleaner activity.

Additionally, while covering your electricity needs, a solar parking can shield employees and customers’ vehicles from snow loads in winter and strong heat in summer.

The Advantages

By installing a solar parking infrastructure in you parking area, you will benefit from the main advantages that are usually derived from using solar PV to power electricity in a building.

Independence from the public grid

Firstly, you will be able to become more independent from the public grid. Not only this will make you autonomous from and unaffected by power outages, but it will also shield you from the price volatility of fossil fuel-generated electricity.

Lower electricity costs

Secondly, producing your own electricity and achieving autonomy from the public grid also means you will reduce your monthly and yearly electricity costs.

Sustainable competitive asset

Solar PV is a source of clean and renewable energy. By adopting it for your everyday operations, you will reduce the CO2 emissions of your activity. Not only you will anticipate incoming regulations, but you will develop a sustainable asset that can attract more customers and put you ahead of the competition. In a global survey conducted in 2021, 85% of the respondents belonging to different age groups, stated to have shifted their purchase behaviour towards being more sustainable. The new generations rank as the highest share. Additionally, more than one third claimed to be willing to pay more for sustainability. In another survey conducted globally, 55% of the respondents deemed environmental responsibility extremely important when choosing a brand.

Enhanced employee and customer experience

Employees and customers will be more pleased if they can shield their vehicles from the heat, hail and snow. Or even if they can charge their cars while working and shopping through the EV chargers allocated in the solar parking area. Your business will give the idea to prioritize employees and customers’ comfort.

Increasing revenue

You could increase your revenue through solar parking in multiple ways. Firstly, if the parking spot is charged, some people are willing to pay an extra amount if the parking can shield their vehicles from external phenomena. Secondly, by placing EV chargers, you can collect the money drivers spend to charge their EVs while working or shopping in your building. Also, EV drivers that do not directly interact with your building, but either work or live nearby or are simply passing through, can decide to use your parking to charge their vehicles. This also increases the foot traffic and visibility of your activity.

Usage of already existing space

You don’t need to go through financial expenses and complicate bureaucracy related to acquiring new land to install your solar parking structure. You can simply use the parking lot already existing nearby your building.

For whom is Solar Parking?

Solar parking is for every business or public entity that has or is planning to have a parking area available.

Among the enterprise world, retail businesses are the ones that most benefit from solar parking, giving the amount of people that constantly visit their building every day. They have the highest financial, sustainable and competitive incentives to install solar parking to reduce electricity costs, generate additional revenues, develop a sustainable asset and enhance customer experience.

Another sector that can benefit as much involves airports, train stations as well as gas stations and rest stop along the highway, due to the continuous flow of people visiting and using their infrastructure.

Nevertheless, also auto dealerships, warehouses, manufacturing plants and business offices can benefit from solar parking.

What do you need to consider when installing solar parking?

The size of the solar parking structure is determined by the dimension of the parking area, by the amount of visitors you receive daily and by the size of the vehicles that are usually parked.

If your building already has carports, you can save money by simply placing the panels on top of them.

Public charging will become increasingly popular as the European Parliament announces the deployment of at least one EV charger for cars every 60 km along main EU roads. The same would apply for trucks and buses but only on core TEN-T networks and with more power capacity.

Public entities will be able to install these high-capacity EV chargers along highways, city roads and suburbs, stimulating a more sustainable driving habit and anticipating incoming regulations. They will also be able to collect the consequent revenue, thus expanding the source of public income.

As shown below, public EV charging holds the greatest charging capacity, becoming a key factor for faster deployment of electric vehicles. Public Charging Stations rely on the most powerful and fastest chargers, optimal for charging EVs on the go along main roads, highways, urban areas and communities.

Charging for everyone

The 3 EV Charging Types

Type 1

Level 1 EV chargers typically have an output ranging from 1.4 to 2.3 kW, translating into a charging rate of 3-8 kilometres of range per hour. They are the slowest type of EV chargers but are still useful for overnight charging at home, where time is not a concern. They are also the most affordable option as they only require a standard household outlet.

Type 2

Level 2 EV chargers have an output that can reach up to 20 kW approximately and is translated into a charging rate of 16-97 kilometres of range per hour, depending on the charging station’s power output and the EV’s battery capacity. They are more expensive than Level 1 chargers, but their faster charging speed makes them ideal for public charging stations, workplace charging, and some homes.

Type 3

Level 3 EV chargers, also known as DC Fast Charging, can have an output ranging from 50 kW to 350 kW or higher. This translates into a charging rate of 160-480 kilometres of range per hour, making them the fastest type of EV chargers. However, they are also the more costly and require a special installation, which is why they are mainly found in commercial and public areas. They are designed for long-distance travel and can provide a quick charge while on the go.

Support and adoption

EU: Current Trends & Policies

EVs are booming, while the EU bans sale of CO2 emitting vehicles by 2035

Electric vehicles are rapidly gaining ground in the automotive industry, with sales more than doubling in 2021 compared to the previous year. In fact, nearly 10% of all cars sold in the world were electric. This upward trend continued in 2022, with sales soaring by an impressive 75% from 2021. Europe is now the second largest market after China, with a remarkable growth rate of 2.3 million electric vehicles.

The European Union is determined to support the energy transition in the transport sector through policy action. The European Parliament and Council recently agreed to ensure that all new cars and vans registered in Europe will be zero-emission by 2035. As more European citizens will gradually shift to battery-electric vehicles, manufacturers will be encouraged by the new legislation to invest in research and innovation, which will drive EVs prices down. Meanwhile, it remains more cost-efficient to use electric-powered vehicles as electricity prices are currently lower than petrol prices and they require less maintenance. This makes the total cost of ownership of an electric car the same or even cheaper than a petrol or diesel car.

EV charging share increases while EU authorities legislate the implementation of related infrastructure

EV charging infrastructure is constantly growing. Private chargers will remain the backbone of the demand, accounting for 90% of all chargers and for 60% of installed capacity by 2030. Home chargers are currently the dominant source of charging in many countries. Most early EV adopters use them as a primary source due to lower electricity rates and expanding public charging infrastructure. This is why households with residential charging access own 50% and 60% of all electric cars in Europe and the United States.

Public charging will also undergo substantial growth, with Europe ranking second worldwide, right behind China. As a matter of fact, in 2021 alone, the EU experienced a 30% year-on-year increase in both public slow and fast chargers. In October 2022, the members of the European Parliament disclosed draft EU rules aimed at spurring the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure, instructing member states to present their plan by 2024 on how to achieve it.

The European Parliament stated the minimum requirement to deploy at least one EV charger for cars every 60 km along the main EU roads. The same would apply for trucks and buses but only on core TEN-T networks and with more power capacity. These stations should be accessible to all vehicle brands and should easily display the price per kWh, be affordable and comparable. Plans also include the set up by 2027 of an EU access point for alternative fuels data indicating the availability, waiting times and prices at different stations across Europe

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