- The partners recently opened the ‘first innovative’ Flexpole charging station in Germany; many more to come up
- VW’s battery storage system claims to enable connection to a low-voltage grid and charges the vehicle quickly
- By 2030, Germany intends to have at least one million charging points available to drivers of electric cars
In a piece of recent electric mobility news from Europe, Shell Germany and the Volkswagen Group have jointly unveiled a ‘Flexpole charging station’ in Goettingen in Germany. Calling it the first innovative 150 kW Elli Flexpole charging station, the partners added that with their new technology, the charging stations can be easily and flexibly installed, and the grid expansion can be accelerated. The press note mentioned that Shell and Volkswagen also plan to install the Flexpole charging station at other locations in Germany and Europe after a successful test operation.
The partners believe that with the Elli Flexpole solution, one of the biggest hurdles of expansion could be overcome. As per the press release, the charging station from Volkswagen’s Elli brand has a unique battery storage system that enables connection to a low-voltage grid and, depending on the vehicle type, charges a range of up to 160 kilometres within 10 minutes.
“The rapid expansion of the charging infrastructure is a prerequisite for the success of e-mobility. We contribute to this journey with our innovations such as the Elli Flexpole. It can be set up almost anywhere without major construction work, making it ideal for quickly setting up fast-charging options. We are pleased to have found a strong partner in Shell who, like us, wants to expand the charging network in Germany and across Europe,” said Simon Löffler, Chief Commerical Officer of Volkswagen Group Charging GmbH.
Head of Shell E-Mobility responsible for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Tobias Bahnsen commented, “With VW’s Elli Flexpole charging stations, we can make an important contribution to the necessary expansion of the charging infrastructure. And in locations where it would be otherwise difficult for fast charging. Shell is already one of the largest providers of charging infrastructure at home, at work, at on-street lamp posts and at our service stations. We want to do our part to enable customers to switch to electric vehicles and thus reduce CO2 emissions in the transport sector.”
Volkswagen Group Technology bundles the Group-wide activities in the areas of battery, charging and e-components and supports the Group brands as an in-house technology supplier along with its subsidiaries PowerCo (battery) and Elli (charging & energy). With the aim to become the leading provider of an intelligent charging and energy ecosystem, the Group envisages a global network of 45,000 high-power charging points (HPC) with an output of up to 350 kW by 2025.
Shell is an international energy company with a diversified presence across integrated gas and renewable energy, hardware solutions for different cases and deep capabilities in R&D, digitalization, and business operations. Worldwide, Shell aims to install over 500,000 charging points by 2025 and 2,500,000 by 2030.
