Enel teams up with Ionity

Enel, through its advanced energy services division Enel X, and IONITY, a joint venture of BMW, Daimler, Ford and Volkswagen Group, the latter through Porsche and Audi, signed an e-mobility cooperation agreement to install by the end of 2019 up to 20 IONITY charging sites, each with a maximum of six high-power electric vehicle chargers of up to 350 kW per charger. The 20 Italian sites are part of IONITY’s plan to install 400 high power charging (HPC) sites across Europe, which are able to top up today and the next generation’s electric vehicles in 15 to 30 minutes.

“With this significant agreement we are entering a new, futuristic phase in electric mobility, creating a network of stations that are able to quickly serve the power needs of electric cars, drastically reducing charging times. This network will enable drivers to travel long distances, combining environmental sustainability with the pleasure of a safe and sporty drive. As IONITY’s partner, Enel will select the most suitable locations across Italy to install high power stations serving the top end of the electric vehicle market. Our ultimate aim is to further boost the spread of e-mobility in the country, ensuring that these high power stations are integrated within Enel’s national plan for e-mobility,” said Francesco Venturini, Head of Enel X.

Marcus Groll, Chief Operating Officer at IONITY, commented: “IONITY and Enel X are on the same road. We want to make the long-distance journey a reality for electric vehicles in Europe. Working with Enel X enables us to achieve our target of building a powerful charging network thus tackling the so-called range anxiety which is currently an issue for electric vehicle drivers.”

In line with the agreement, Enel will provide IONITY with a turnkey solution whereby Enel X will scout for the sites, procure and install the charging stations on each site, and maintain the stations. Enel is set to install the first station by 2018. IONITY will fully operate the sites using the European charging standard “Combined Charging System” (CCS) with a capacity of up to 350 kW, thereby providing cross-brand compatibility with most present-day and future electric vehicles.

The HPC stations will be able to charge the electric vehicles of customers from Enel X and from any other mobility service provider operating in Italy and willing to offer their charging services through these state-of-the-art facilities. The stations will be integrated within Enel’s national plan for charging infrastructure deployment, which will include up to 14,000 sites by 2022 and will also be integrated within the overall Italian network of electric vehicle charging stations.

At the same time, Italy’s HPC stations will be part of IONITY’s overall European network of 400 charging sites to be deployed by 2020, opening up the service to drivers that can charge their vehicles in any of those European sites.

Both the current and the next generation of electric vehicles will therefore be able to travel longer distances in Italy and across Europe, overcoming drivers’ range anxiety and helping to speed up the adoption of electric vehicles in Europe.

Once operational, each station will also be capable of charging the new long-range electric vehicles which can travel more than 300 kilometres on a single charge and which are expected to be launched from the end of 2018 onwards.