Holland will be the first most populous country in Europe to benefit from fast charging. Although much slower than Tesla’s, these will be able to juice small EVs to full in up to 30 minutes.
ABB has been selected by Fastned (a Dutch startup) to provide the fast chargers to some 200 EV charging stations in the Netherlands, one each 50 kilometers by September 2013.
The Fastned EV stations will also feature solar canopies, to take advantage of the Sun’s free energy.
ABB’s multi-standard design will be able to charge all kinds of EVs offered for sale in Europe, Asia and the U.S. Moreover, cloud-connected software will let users interact with the network and be able to pay easily.
“Fastned chose ABB for its proven expertise in deploying and managing nationwide EV charging networks,” said Ulrich Spiesshofer, Executive Committee Member responsible for Discrete Automation and Motion. “ABB provides the chargers and industry-leading software solutions for remote servicing as well as connectivity to subscriber management and payment systems.”
Albeit slower than Tesla’s Superchargers, the Fastned stations will be connectable to Tesla cars such as the Model S, allowing for greater confidence that you won’t run out of juice in the middle of nowhere and have to be towed to the nearest station (usually this is called “range anxiety”).
