ELECTRIC VEHICLES PROFILE

A make-or-break year for EV uptake

Can EV recharging stations in be like diesel and regular, or is innovation and investment at risk for early movers?

he year 2013 will be likely remembered as the year when local governments, and recharging service operators. It has more Tthe (EV) recharging infrastructure than 430 member organisations across 26 countries with deployment broke out from its infancy stage with a number members in Europe including PSA Peugeot Citroën, ABB, of large scale network rollouts in many European member states. Schneider Electric, Siemens, E.ON, ENEL and Endesa, The importance of the infrastructure development was further representing almost all actors active in European e-mobility today. stressed by the bold statement from the European Commission to set national targets to recharging points and push towards On 19 February, at its third European Annual Conference, harmonised recharging standards. The big question still remains – CHAdeMO members shared the progress and lessons learnt from will that be sufficient for the accelerated adoption of electric the large scale European recharger infrastructure projects, and vehicles in Europe? CHAdeMO believes that with the right choice confirmed that CHAdeMO played a vital role in all projects. The of technology and infrastructure rollout strategies, Europe will 70+ participants from 16 European countries reconfirmed the have strong chances to succeed. following position vis-à-vis the CPT Directive proposal. The impact of the European Commission proposal The association welcomes the CPT proposal by the European On 24 January 2013, the European Commission, as part of the Commission, but at the same time is concerned that the goodwill Clean Power for Transport (CPT) Directive, released its proposal for of the proposal would not be fulfilled if the efforts of the first a directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure, movers in the European e-mobility community are not part of the including recharging infrastructure for EVs. However, this push to install the Europe-wide EV infrastructure from the Commission did equation. Given that significant amount of investment is already not come without controversies as the harmonisation did not take underway in Europe using the CHAdeMO standard, the public into account the actual state of affairs in EV infrastructure infrastructure should be built utilising CHAdeMO as a foundation deployment. The (DC) fast recharging infrastructure for all other infrastructure to follow. de facto in Europe today is based on the CHAdeMO standard, Innovative technology for realisation of e-mobility which was not mentioned in the Commission’s proposal as a DC The first deployments of CHAdeMO rechargers date back to 2009, fast recharging standard for Europe. followed by the establishment of European CHAdeMO in 2010. CHAdeMO technology is the only standard today that supports the With four years of rigorous testing and development, CHAdeMO DC fast recharging for most EVs in operation globally. CHAdeMO is has become the de facto fast recharging standard which will soon an international association which represents a cross-industry be published as an IEC standard. member network from fields ranging from automakers, utilities, The innovation CHAdeMO has brought to early EV adopters is the convenience of “DC fast recharging”, by introducing a new concept of time, i.e. “recharge while you have a cup of tea”. This was welcomed by drivers, as it helps overcome some constraints of EV driving range, often referred to as ‘range anxiety’, and has also instilled confidence in the principal actors of European e-mobility on the great potential of EVs. Since then, CHAdeMO technology, which is extensively validated, has proven to be the answer to many of the recharging infrastructure projects in Europe. As of March 2013, 650 CHAdeMO rechargers are installed in 23 European countries. This count is expected to double again this year. Fast recharging infrastructure deployment is no longer the future but an achievement and a reality today.

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Market reality Today, over two-thirds of the 35,000+ passenger EVs on the streets across Europe are CHAdeMO compatible. CHAdeMO rechargers are not only serving Leaf, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Peugeot iOn, and Citroën C-ZERO, which have been under mass production since 2010, but also new EVs like Citroën Berlingo and Peugeot Partner. It has also been announced that Nissan e- NV200 vans and PHEV, the world’s first fast-rechargeable Plug-in Hybrid EV bearing CHAdeMO capability, will be soon available for consumers. The development of e-mobility in Europe means job creation. Automakers with CHAdeMO compatible EVs will produce locally in Europe. In 2013, PSA Peugeot Citroën is starting the production of batteries and assembly of their new EVs in . Nissan plans to produce LEAF in the UK and Spain this year. Over 40 service operators have installed CHAdeMO rechargers, which triggered a Maintaining momentum on e-mobility deployment new category of business – EV fast recharging services. With 12 Following the European Commission’s call for a unified standard, charger manufacturers who provide CHAdeMO rechargers spread the CHAdeMO association is open to collaborating with other across Europe, this industry segment has had a positive impact recommended standards, such as Combo, in order to create the on the European labour market in the midst of an unfavourable right solution for the market. The two standards are aligning economic environment. towards commonalisation; we expect them to demonstrate a Today, European pioneer countries in e-mobility enjoy CHAdeMO significant commonality therefore be able to offer a competitive fast recharging networks and the list is growing. and attractive option to investors. In fact, some charger manufacturers, members of CHAdeMO, have already succeeded in Nationwide networks developing dual-arm rechargers at a minimal incremental cost Ireland is one of the first EU member states deploying 66 DC fast that can recharge both CHAdeMO and Combo-type EVs. With rechargers since 2010. ESB, the national grid operator who is these dual-arm rechargers released this year, EV owners can leading this project, is collecting data from drivers who have select the recharger, just like how diesel and regular car owners purchased EVs. According to their survey, as much as 89% of EV select their petrol pumps. drivers answered that fast recharging is necessary for driving EVs. The message sent out by the Commission would provide a critical has succeeded the launch of their national CHAdeMO fast recharging network in a speedy manner: they have installed boost to interest and investment in the e-mobility sector. However, 152 units within a mere four months. without a clear signal to encourage continued investment in what has already been built, there is a risk of significantly diminishing In , 45 DC fast rechargers have been installed by Clever, the market enthusiasm thus halting European e-mobility progress who offers e-mobility operation solutions by establishing and for at least some years. This is why CHAdeMO proposed to the operating an intelligent nationwide recharger network through Commission to take a more technologically neutral approach. We smart grid services. hope 2013 will be a break out year for the European journey Urban areas/Inter-city networks towards zero emissions society. In urban areas in the and Spain, there are a number of DC fast rechargers in operation. Some city-to-city fast recharger installations along motorways can be seen: 13 recharge stations are placed around motorway exits between Hamburg and Dortmund in . The route connecting Lisbon and Braga in is also equipped with CHAdeMO rechargers. has a nationwide fast recharging network including 15 CHAdeMO fast rechargers. The French ‘Energy Corridor Alsace’ Tomoko Blech Representative, CHAdeMO Association Europe project installed six CHAdeMO recharge stations, as part of a Franco-German project, envisioning EV drivers crossing the border tel: +33 177 455 176 using public fast recharge stations in both countries. A cross- [email protected] border ‘green highway’ project, supported by the EU, is also www.chademo.com underway between and . Reproduced by kind permission of Pan European Networks Ltd, www.paneuropeannetworks.com © Pan European Networks 2013 www.paneuropeannetworks.com Pan European Networks: Government 06 177