If all goes according to plan, in two years The Netherlands will have the world’s largest nationwide network of EV fast-charging stations. It was announced this week that by 2015, there should be over 200 such stations along Dutch highways, leaving no resident farther than 50 km (31 miles) from a charge-up at any time.
The stations will be run by Dutch start-up Fastned, with the chargers being supplied by Switzerland’s ABB Group. Each station will house several chargers including ABB’s 50-kilowatt Terra 52 and Terra 53 models, which are reportedly capable of charging an electric vehicle within 15 to 30 minutes.
Those chargers are also able to accommodate a variety of commonly-used vehicle charging protocols, including CHAdeMO and CCS. According to ABB, “the network will be capable of serving EVs offered by all major car brands from Europe, Asia and the USA.” A cloud-based service will handle things like customer payments, remote assistance, servicing and software upgrades.
Additionally, photovoltaic panels on the roofs of the stations will help offset the financial and environmental costs of supplying the necessary power.
The first chargers are scheduled to be delivered this September.
Source: ABB via Treehugger
