Available infrastructure as an essential part and condition for development of e-mobility is slowly gaining
ground in Slovakia. On Wednesday the first fast-charging station for electric
cars was launched.
Since
yesterday there are four public charging places in Slovakia. The new one,
located at Slovnaft petrol station in Petržalka, is able to fully charge the
eco-friendly vehicle in 20 minutes. Charging is free of charge until the end of
2012.
The new fast-charging
point is a part of cross-border twin city project VIBRATe implemented in
Bratislava – Vienna area. Consortium of Slovak and Austrian energy companies are
aiming to create green highway between the two capitals and in the neighboring
region.
“Creating a
network of charging stations and including electric cars into everyday
operation, the VIBRATe project represents a complex and functional e-mobility
model. Moreover, by building fast-charging stations we are contributing to
greater comfort behind the steering wheel while offering further possibilities
to effectively use emission-free vehicles in both city transport and regional
transport,” says Andrej Devečka, member of the Board of Directors of
Západoslovenská energetika (E.ON Group).
Recently another
fast-charging point was installed in Vienna and the partners plan to launch two
more at the Austrian side by the end of the year.
Wolfgang
Pell, director for R&D at Austrian company Verbund, added: “Vienna, Lower
Austria and Bratislava are becoming clean and energy efficient region. As electricity providers we can contribute to ensure energy efficiency, climate
protection and safety of supplies also in the area of mobility.”
E-mobility
perspectives in Slovakia
In April
2012 representatives of the power and electrical engineering industry
established the Slovak Electric Vehicle Association (SEVA). They believe the
potential for e-mobility in Slovakia is very high. They refer to very strong car
production business in Slovakia and long-term cooperation between business
involved and technology universities. The urban areas are the most perspective
to push for alternative and innovative transport.
“The city is
supporting projects which have been neglected for 20 years,” said the representative
of Bratislava municipality Petra Nagyová-Džerengová during launch of the
fast-charging station. “Electric cars at least in the urban areas should be
developed among the first ways of alternative transport,” she added.
Developers
of e-mobility in Slovakia are also looking for more partners, e.g. restaurants,
cafés, petrol stations, hotels, parking houses or public institutions, that
would make their private sockets available for charging electric cars.
Apart from charging infrastructure there is still lack of clear rules of where, to what density and what types of
charging stations for electric cars should be built. There is still an open question about the support for electromobility –
via various systems of direct subsidies (such as in Sweden, Spain or the UK), system
of tax breaks (Denmark), non-financial incentives, formation of rate of
electricity consumption for the ecological purposes of transport, etc.
In spring
2012 the Ministry of Economy confirmed it would like to use German National
Electric Mobility Platform as an inspirational model for development in Slovakia and bilateral
discussions with federal ministry have been initiated.
First operating
results
Despite
many challenges analysis carried out by the VIBRATE project team confirms that green
interconnection of the region and e-mobility are no longer just drafts on a
paper.
Fifteen
electric cars, having driven 56,000 km from January to June 2012, consumed
9 MWhs of electric energy and locally saved 5,600 kg of CO2
emissions. The average daily distance of 33-38 km shows possibilities of mainly
urban usage.
VIBRATe
project manager, Peter Ševce, describes external influences determining the
electric car’s driveability and experience of 26 respondents: “Running distance
of electric cars depends on the ambient temperature, usage of air conditioning
and driving style. It’s between 80 and 130 km with fully charged
batteries. Energy consumption is tied-in with the running distance, reaching 12
to 20 kWhs/100 km.“
The testing
champions in the longest distance driven were Wiener Hilfswerk organization and
Slovak Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The
participants confirmed that the biggest disadvantage of e-mobility is still the
high price of electric cars, yet they think positively of e-mobility. What they
perceive as the greatest limit is the short running distance of electric cars,
however the current running distance sufficiently covers their everyday needs
of transport.
“The respondents see usage of electric cars as a way of saving operational costs. They would accept charging time of up to one hour and they would pay 2 to 5 euro for charging,” Peter Ševce added.
“The respondents see usage of electric cars as a way of saving operational costs. They would accept charging time of up to one hour and they would pay 2 to 5 euro for charging,” Peter Ševce added.
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