First ‘ultra-fast’ electric car charging station comes online in Europe

Currently, there are two new separate ‘ultra-fast’ electric car charging networks with charge rates up to 350 kW coming up in Europe right now.

The first station was brought online today – making it the first “public ultra-fast charging station in Europe.”

The keyword is “public” since Porsche already built its own station in Germany.

The two networks are Ionity, which is backed by BMW, Mercedes, Ford, and Volkswagen, and Ultra-E, which is backed by Allego, Audi, BMW, Magna, Renault, Hubject, and others.

Ultra-E is the company that brought its first station online today with brand new chargers built by EV Tronic.

Allego COO Ulf Schulte commented:

“We are delighted to be setting a milestone for future electro-mobility in Europe with this new generation of fast chargers.”

Here’s a picture of the new station in n Kleinostheim near by Frankfurt, Germany:

To be fair, the actual charge rate is not up to 350 kW yet – not that any electric car can currently charge at that rate anyway.

It’s nonetheless an impressive station since 4 electric cars can charge simultaneously at 175 kW. The company says that the station will be upgraded to 350 kW in the spring of 2018.

The station will also receive an additional “multi-standard 50kW charger”.

Schulte added:

“Interoperability comes as standard at Allego. We support all the current charging cards and access apps, enabling anyone to charge their e-car at Allego and quickly be on their way. It is thanks chiefly to our working relationships with our numerous partners that we are able to offer this comprehensive service.”

By Summer 2018, they say that the Dutch coast to the Austrian border will be covered with the new network.