Overview
The Directive 2014/94/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure defines a common framework of measures for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure in the European Union in order to minimise dependence on oil and to mitigate the environmental impact of transport. It sets out minimum requirements for the building-up of alternative fuels infrastructure, including networks of standardised multi-standard charging points with non-discriminatory access for Electric Vehicles (EV). The current lack of interoperable recharging infrastructure is the key barrier to development of the market for EV. Interventions for stimulating implementation of such infrastructure are therefore necessary, as well as further actions to already foster the next generation of Ultra-fast Charging (UC) stations for increased competitiveness of EV thanks to the reduced charging time, cost effectiveness and consumer convenience.
The Action’s overall objective is to foster EV and UC use across Europe, therefore contributing to the European alternative fuels implementation strategy. The Action, including a study and a real-life pilot deployment, is implemented on the Core Network Corridors (CNC) in Austria, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Six CNC are concerned: North Sea-Mediterranean, North Sea-Baltic, Rhine-Alpine, Rhine-Danube, Scandinavian-Mediterranean and Baltic-Adriatic. To deliver on the overall objective of the Action, there are two specific objectives, which will be met by carrying out seven defined activities within the Action.
The first specific objective is to understand all necessary technical economic and customer-related requirements to ensure EU-wide standardised interoperability between different national and transnational networks of multi-standard fast charging and UC stations for passenger cars and commercial vehicles such as trucks and electric buses (intermodal network), including load balancing and grid connection management for future synergies between the energy and transport sectors. This objective will be met through three studies (activities 1, 2 and 3) building on the integration of different ongoing electromobility (e-mobility) Actions and existing cross-border connections and roaming solutions (platforms such as Hubject), allowing for long-term viability of affordable, publicly accessible and cross-border seamless e-mobility services in the foreseeable future for upcoming Long Distance EV (LD-EV). The studies will set the foundation of and make recommendations for an EU-wide non-proprietary system based on open protocols and standards.
The second specific objective is to allow LD-EV driving over more than 1,100 km, making use of the non-proprietary deployed network of UC stations with the same convenience standard to conventional vehicles, while testing cross-border e-mobility services and interoperability between charging networks, and finally to draw conclusions and make recommendations for future roll-out in the EU. This objective will be met by deploying and operating a pilot of 25 UC stations (4 in Austria, 4 in Belgium, 12 in Germany and 5 in the Netherlands), building on lessons learned from existing e-mobility Actions (activity 4). Overall, this will lead to a continuous UC station network between Amsterdam and Brussels as well as from Munich to Vienna and Graz along the core network, enabling long distance journeys. The pilot will provide through the evaluation of usage data an understanding of customers' needs and attitude to UC, notably when roaming abroad, and will respond to their expectations by removing existing technological, commercial and acceptance barriers, eventually encouraging a switch to Electric Vehicles (EV) and UC.