E-mobility: charging infrastructure problem solved?!
From 2035, new combustion vehicles will be banned in Europe and only new electric vehicles will be allowed. In many cities, however, these will already be banned in the environmental zones before then. How will the millions of e-cars be charged in the confined urban areas? In Antwerp (Belgium), e-cars can already be charged flexibly at mobile charging stations. Now the service could soon be expanded and find space in other major cities in Europe.
It is not an easy task to implement driving bans for combustion cars in low emission zones and zero emission zones in the next few years. Many cities face a major problem - the charging infrastructure. This is precisely why the car-sharing company Green Mobility, which specialises in electric cars, offers its customers in Antwerp the opportunity to charge their rented e-cars not only at stationary charging points. In fact, in a cooperation with the start-up UZE, a mobile charging station was developed that customers can conveniently use for battery charging - without having to worry about finding the nearest charging station.
UZE is now planning to expand its charging delivery service outside the Belgian city - in Brussels and Copenhagen, where Green Mobility is already active, as well as in cities where the car-sharing service has not yet arrived. Berlin and Hamburg, but also Düsseldorf and Cologne, are to be the first cities in Germany where UZE charging points will be put to the test.
The way the charging service works should not change. As is currently the case in Antwerp, the mobile station will reach places where there is no charging point. As a rule, refuelling for a range of about 200 km should require a charging time of less than 40 minutes. In the future, however, charging technology could improve to allow faster charging times.
Above all, there is an opportunity to meet the charging needs of the growing number of e-cars "without overgrowing the city with charging stations". The bottom line is that mobile stations are a "low urban impact solution" compared to stationary charging points. As important as it really is to make room for electric cars in small and large cities, more and more citizens want their presence in the cityscape not to become overgrown.
At the same time, the mobile charging service could be the solution to another dilemma. In order to make cities fit for the electric turnaround, the associated introduction of zero-emission zones and expansions of the existing environmental zones and thus the expected increase in electric cars, extensive support programmes for electric mobility are needed - for example to expand the necessary infrastructure. However, these are often expensive, time-consuming and often make it difficult for cities to decide how many points and where to build. For example, because charging needs often exceed actual availability even after an expansion.
A mobile charging service could therefore be a viable solution to provide e-car drivers with easy access to electricity, support sustainable transport options as part of the transport transition, and drive the implementation of Zero Emission Zones across Europe.