- Key operators join forces to make European EV travel smoother and faster
- EXPAND-E Consortium led by IONITY and GreenWay is awarded €~ 70 M to deploy more than 2.100 recharging points (150 kW – 350 kW) for light and heavy duty electric vehicles in more than 450 locations across 22 EU Member States
- EXPAND-E is the largest electric vehicle charging project ever to be co-financed by the European Commission
The EXPAND-E (EXpanding Performance and Network Density – Electric) project is a consortium of six companies, led by IONITY and GreenWay, and including Renovatio, K-Auto, Fortisis and Grid Telecom. EXPAND-E is organized as twinned projects, EXPAND-E General and EXPAND-E Cohesion, and was selected for a combined €69.11 M by the European Climate Infrastructure And Environment Networks Executive Agency (CINEA) in its most recent round of financing for clean transport infrastructure along the Trans European Transport Network (TEN-T) roadways. Overall in this round, the European Commission selected projects totaling € 292.5. M for clean transport infrastructure.
The 3-year project is a coordinated, multi-national effort across 22 European Union (EU) Member States to expand existing locations into a truly high power pan-European electric vehicle (EV) charging network from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea and from the Black Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. The project also aims to fill in gaps in coverage along the TEN-T road network with high power charging infrastructure (150-350 kW). Overall, the project should deploy more than 2.100 recharging points for electric Light Duty Vehicles (LDVs) and Heavy Duty Vehicles (HDVs) in more than 450 locations.
Charging locations installed under the project will not only serve electric passenger cars (LDVs) travelling along the TEN-T road network, they will also significantly address the needs of electric HDVs. The project will build out the spine of an HDV charging corridor through numerous countries, a number of which have not previously received EU funding for high power charging infrastructure. Lessons learned will provide valuable experience for future development of the HDV charging market.
All charging stations will be publicly accessible 24/7 and support roaming and open access payment schemes.
Under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for Transport, we are making available €1.5 billion for European projects on alternative fuels transport infrastructure along the Trans-European Transport Network. The current challenging times have reinforced the importance of having an efficient, seamless, well-connected European infrastructure network, and projects such as EXPAND-E bring us a big step closer to these objectives. Due to its very large coverage across many Member States, it will significantly contribute to the creation of a sustainable and interconnected transport system for both passengers and freight.
Herald Ruijters, Acting Deputy Director General, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
This project is extremely ambitious in its size and scope, and will play an important role in providing reliability and assurance to EV drivers traveling between countries in Europe as well as kickstarting the market for HDV charging by building out HDV corridors. I appreciate the confidence of the EU in our ability to lead this coordinated effort along with IONITY.
Peter Badik, Managing Partner, GreenWay
We are very pleased with the EU’s decision to select the EXPAND-E Project for funding. We were able to build a strong consortium with key players, especially in regions that have not received a lot of funding before, to deploy additional high-power charging stations all over Europe. The expansion of the pan-European HPC infrastructure for passenger cars and, for the first time, also commercial vehicles, along the TEN-T road network is an essential part of EV adoption and indispensable in achieving our climate goals.
Dr. Marcus Groll, Managing Director, IONITY
As an increasing number of Europeans shift every day to electric vehicles, the deployment of infrastructure that enables fast and easy recharging of EVs, when taking long trips, is a key factor for achieving the Green Deal targets regarding charging infrastructure across the EU.
In this context the financial support of the EU to EXPAND-E project is a tangible example of the added value of policies aiming to address the challenges associated with investments in high power recharging infrastructure, especially in countries like Greece, where, compared to the rest of the EU, there are bigger gaps in infrastructure and higher risks for these investments.
Dimitris Micharikopoulos, Managing Director, FORTISIS
EXPAND-E funding will play a decisive role in the penetration of electric vehicles in Greece. Grid Telecom will deploy 143 ultra-fast charging points (180kW) for light duty vehicles and 13 ultra-fast charging points (360kW) for heavy duty vehicles, contributing to the target of green mobility and energy transition in the country.
Mr. Rousopoulos, Business Development & Digital Transformation, Chief Officer, IPTO Group
EXPAND-E, when completed, will allow smooth transit from North to South and East to West, alleviating range & charger availability anxiety. For the first time in a charging infrastructure development project the needs for the heavy transport industry play a big role. We are delighted to be part of a consortium of leading infrastructure operators across the EU.
Alexandru Teodorescu, Managing Partner, Renovatio
We want to participate in developing a faster EV charging network in Finland so we are very happy to be a part of this project.
Tom von Bonsdorff, Director of K-Auto’s EV charging network, K-Lataus
The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union.
This project is co-funded by the European Union.
About the Consortium Partners:
IONITY: A coordinator of this Action, IONITY builds and operates a high-power charging (HPC) network along Europe’s highways, using state-of-the-art technology with a charging power of up to 350 kW. By doing so drivers of current and future generations of electric vehicles – using the European charging standard CCS (Combined Charging System) – benefit from maximum charging speeds while taking a break on their journey. Every IONITY charging station consists of an average of six to twelve charging points. As a commitment to sustainability, all IONITY chargers deliver 100% renewable energy for both emission-free and carbon neutral driving.
IONITY was founded in 2017 and is a joint venture of the car manufacturers BMW Group, Ford Motor Company, Hyundai Motor Group, Mercedes Benz AG and Volkswagen Group with Audi and Porsche, along with BlackRock’s Global Renewable Power platform as financial investor.
More than 150 employees are shaping the future of e-Mobility at IONITY. The company is headquartered in Munich with additional offices in Dortmund and outside Norway’s capital Oslo. IONITY is an internationally registered trademark.
GreenWay: A coordinator of this Action, is a leading CPO who builds and manages EV charging infrastructure throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Currently, GreenWay operates more than 500 public chargers, ranging from AC chargers to ultra-fast chargers, including locations with stationary storage devices and solar panels to provide locally generated renewable energy. As an eMSP, GreenWay has nearly 30.000 members. GreenWay led the development of the market in Slovakia and Poland and was the first company in the region to receive the “InnovFin” financing from the EU Commission & European Investment Bank (EIB). It has since raised an additional 85 million EUR in private capital for further network development.
Renovatio: The largest CPO in Romania with more than 500 Charge Points under operation and 20,000 registered customers. Since 2014, Renovatio started to deploy a nationwide fast charging infrastructure (50 kW) in Romania, covering all major urban areas and main transit corridors. Renovatio is also an integrated energy player (development, generation, trading supply, and asset management) in renewable energy, with more than 2,300 MW of Wind projects and more than 600 MW of PV projects in various countries.
Fortisis: A pioneering Greek company, established in 2011 and specialized in the provision of integrated solutions of electric mobility, with the aim to develop and facilitate the widespread of the necessary charging infrastructure that will make electric vehicles a market success. With over 10 years of experience and thousands of installations of EV charging stations, FORTISIS has also developed the FORTIZO Network, the first network of publicly accessible charging infrastructure in Greece, which has been operating continuously since 2013 with an ever-increasing number of users and of recharging points throughout the country.
Grid Telecom: A 100% subsidiary of the Independent Power Transmission Operator S.A. (IPTO), which is the national TSO (Transmission System Operator) operating all high voltage lines in Greece. Grid Telecom provides telecom and infrastructure services to national and EV charging infrastructure. As a 100% subsidiary of the TSO, Grid Telecom benefits from access to sites in strategic locations with very high capacity grid connections (e.g. next to high voltage substations). In addition to its vast experience in operating telecom services, Grid Telecom has the good basis to manage the connectivity to the EV chargers, operate backend systems and end user applications, provide 24/7 help desk to customers, etc.
K-Auto: A subsidiary of the KESKO group and a distinct legal entity deploying EV charging infrastructure. In 2019, K Charge (KESKO Group’s charging network) became the largest fast charging network for electric cars in Finland. Out of the total of over 270 fast charging points for electric cars in Finland, approximately 40% belong to the K Charge network. KESKO Group continued investments in its K Charge network in 2021, with focus on high-power charging stations. The electricity charged in all K Charge points comes from renewable sources and is produced with Finnish wind power.
For more information, contact:
Aaron Fishbone, International Communications, GreenWay
[email protected], +421 911 371 827
