Electromobility has achieved its breakthrough: both leading automotive manufacturers and consumers have been turning to electric vehicles since 2020. The development of charging technology is following this boom: the public charging infrastructure in Europe alone grew by 35 percent in 2020, and the interest in private wallboxes in Germany is huge. Accordingly, the number of providers is increasing, as is the variety of products.

Around 110 products – webinar June 15

An overview is provided by the new manufacturer-independent "Market Overview Charging Systems" of Power2Drive Europe, the international exhibition for charging infrastructure and electromobility, in cooperation with cosmix - Europe's largest platform for charging infrastructure. Since 31 May 2021, the market overview with around 110 products has been available for free to download. A presentation of the market overview will take place on June 15, 2021, as part of the Power2Drive webinar "Charging systems at a glance - market overview and subsidies".

The webinar will also feature the current funding opportunities presented by the German National Centre for Charging Infrastructure.The share of private charging will continue to predominate over the next ten years - by a significant margin of around 80 percent, according to the German National Centre for Charging Infrastructure. 

Popular funding program

Charging options at home, at the employer's premises and at shopping centers will be in even greater demand. The German government is promoting this, focusing on forward-looking criteria such as the controllability of charging solutions and the use of electricity from renewable energy.

The funding program is proving very popular: since it was launched at the end of November 2020, 385,000 applications have been submitted for funding for 470,000 private charging points, meaning that the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure followed up for the third time at the beginning of May. The implementation of the EU directives on building energy efficiency and the German Residential Property Act (WEG) make it easier for tenants and apartment owners to install charging technology.

Primarly AC-based charging technology

In the future, charging technology in both the private and commercial segments will be primarily AC-based (alternating current). Powerful DC (direct current) charging systems will play a role in commercial fleets, and in public areas they will even form a nationwide network. DC systems allow charging times to be kept to a minimum and charging points to be used effectively. 150 kilowatts or more are standard. Charging technology in the streets is currently financed and installed primarily by energy providers. In addition, the number of providers of mobile high-power systems for temporary events, for example, is increasing. These combine buffer storage with DC charging points.

Similar to gas stations today, operators of charging infrastructure as well as their service providers will assume a central role in mobility in the near future - and thus become system-relevant. In the future, electricity will be the equivalent of gasoline/diesel and will ideally be generated locally using renewable energies. The energy and mobility sectors are growing together via green charging electricity.

Appropriate energy and load management

All the more important is the appropriate and efficient distribution of the available electricity and thus the integration into the grid, buildings and vehicles as well as the standing and charging times. Intelligent charging systems with appropriate energy and load management, as well as straightforward payment functions for charging electricity, are necessary.

This is particularly important for a larger numbers of parking spaces - for example, in the case of companies for their pool vehicles, employees and guests. "In this context, authorization and payment for e-mobilists must function as simple and transparent as contactless payment in the supermarket today," says Jan Hammerschmied, Head of Charging Infrastructure at cosmix.

Market overview of charging systems enables comparability

Orientation in this dynamically growing area is provided by the "Market Overview Charging Systems" of the Power2Drive Europe exhibition, which was newly launched in cooperation with cosmix, the platform for charging infrastructure. The market overview is structured to provide an overview of technical data for all interested parties - from specialists to newcomers in the field of charging infrastructure.

The market overview provides answers to questions such as: Which plug, how much charging power and how many charging points are supported? Is intelligent charging management available? How can the charging station or wallbox be integrated into a building, energy or fleet management system? The market overview divides 110 products from national and international manufacturers into charging columns and wallboxes in both the AC (normal charging stations) and DC (fast charging stations) segments.

Available as free download

The products are characterized on the basis of the categories charging points, charging power, charging connection and management, and connectivity to the back end – i.e., communication between the charging station and the management system as well as the network connection.

 The market overview is available since May 31, 2021, in German and English as a download. In the webinar "Charging systems at a glance - market overview and subsidies" on June 15, 2021, Jan Hammerschmied, Head of Charging Infrastructure at cosmix, will explain the current features and development of charging infrastructure on the market. In the second part, Conrad Hammer, responsible for federal-state-municipal coordination at National Centre for Charging Infrastructure, will present the current funding opportunities in Germany. Registration and further information about the webinar can be found here.

Power2Drive Europe 2021 takes place 6 to 8 October

The Power2Drive Europe 2021 will take place this year from 06 to 08 October at Messe München as part of The smarter E Europe Restart 2021. From 21 to 23 July 2021, during the last planned event period, The smarter E Industry Days including the award ceremony for The smarter E AWARD, Intersolar AWARD and ees AWARD 2021 will take place digitally. (hcn)

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