Major electric car charging networks in Europe to join forces and create ‘pan-European open’ network

As we recently reported in our article titled ‘German automakers don’t have Tesla’s Supercharger network, but other companies are stepping up‘, the electric car charging landscape is quite complicated.

But there are signs of standardization within the market that are very encouraging.

Another announced today adds to those signs. Two major electric car charging networks in Europe confirmed that they signed an agreement to join forces and create ‘pan-European open’ network.

The two companies are Allego, which is deploying a network of ultra-fast electric car charging stations for European automakers and installing charging stations at Shell’s gas stations, and Fortum, a Finnish energy company that operates EV charging networks in Europe.

They announced today that they came to an agreement and signed a letter of intent at the Connecting Europe Conference in Tallinn (Estonia), hosted by the European Commission.

The purpose of the partnership was described:

“The purpose is that European metropolitan areas and companies with multi-country presence can in the future offer aligned charging services to their inhabitants, customers, guests and employees. Both companies have an intention to create a pan-European charging network with partners that consists of Multi Charging Hubs in metropolitan areas and highways. Various forms of electric mobility will be serviced at the same location.”

Aside from Tesla’s Supercharger network, which is uniform across Europe, other networks are fragmented.

Anja van Niersen, CEO Allego, explained it best:

“The current EV charging landscape in Europe is fragmented. Cross border mobility and long distance is difficult for the EV driver. As many car manufacturers bring significant new full electric vehicles to the market, the need for home charging, smart public charging and ultra-fast charging on-the-go increases. By joining forces with Fortum Charge & Drive we are able to offer aligned services throughout Europe. Together we can be the largest provider of open and interoperable charging solutions.”

Allego and Fortum are two of the biggest players in the field and both supporters of the CCS charging standards, which makes this new agreement a significant step forward to advance electric car charging in Europe.