Electric vehicles – Europe?s Green eMotion initiative gets going

Other car companies taking part are Daimler, with whom the Alliance formed a strategic co-operation last year, and BMW. The initiative, launched this month, also involves city authorities, utility companies, universities and technology and research institutions.

One of the key issues is the development of European processes, standards and IT solutions that allow electric car customers easy and seamless access to charging infrastructure and related services throughout the EU. Standardization is also a key factor for a fast and cost-efficient European rollout of electromobility, something which the Alliance fully supports.

The number of charging points within the existing pilot regions will total more than 10,000, with nearly 1,000 to be installed in Barcelona, Madrid and Malaga, about 400 in Rome and Pisa, 3,600 in Berlin and 100 in Strasbourg. In Denmark, the country with the world’s largest share of wind power generation, between 2,500 and 3,500 electric cars are to be put on the road over the course of this year with as many as 4,500 charging stations to be installed in Copenhagen and Bornholm. Furthermore, some 2,000 electric vehicles and approximately 3,500 charging stations are part of a nationwide rollout in Ireland.

"The local concepts applied to date, in which experience was accumulated in specific test regions, will now be bundled in cross-European trials. The aim is to pave the way for electromobility throughout Europe. This will require standards for infrastructure, networking and IT," said Heike Barlag from Siemens, who coordinates the Green eMotion project. "By bundling individual activities in a major partner initiative we’re gaining momentum and transparency, and ensuring the coordinated development of electromobility."

The Green eMotion project will include the study of battery swapping, which the Alliance is pioneering with our partner Project Better Place in Israel. Other topics on the agenda include DC charging, smart grid integration, cross-border traffic, different payment systems and the testing of alternative business models.

This European initiative fits perfectly with the Alliance’s aim to be a global leader in zero-emission mobility. By 2015, the Alliance will have the capacity to produce 500,000 electric vehicles and batteries at its plants around the world, making it the only automotive group in the world to build electric vehicles and batteries on this scale.

The Alliance is taking a comprehensive approach towards the mass-marketing of electric vehicles encompassing both the product and the infrastructure. To date, the Alliance has entered into more than 90 partnerships with governments, municipal authorities and companies around the world to put in place the necessary incentives and infrastructure for the successful adoption of electric vehicles.

http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/kallas/headlines/news/2011/04/2011_04_01_electromobility_en.htm