"The launch of our car charging points represents an important step in promoting e-mobility not just as a research project but as a genuine business proposition," claims Ruth Werhahn, Head of Electromobility at E.ON. "We plan to install and operate more integrated parking and charging solutions for customers going forward." This puts into practice E.ON’s policy of offering charging solutions for customers such as retailers, car parking providers and vehicle fleet operators. "For us, parking and charging go hand in hand, in other words, they happen where drivers in any case leave their cars for several hours at a time", says Ruth Werhahn. E.ON anticipates that more and more car parks will be equipped with battery charging infrastructure in years to come.
Bavaria Parkgaragen GmbH plans to offer charging facilities with each new multi-storey which it builds together with its strategic partner Bayerische Hausbau. Expanding the charging network for electric cars will make a vital contribution to ensuring inner city mobility in the long term. Electric cars do not emit CO2, they are smaller than many conventional cars and take up less space both on the road and in car parks. According to Claus Schnell, where households run second and third cars there is a good chance that they will replace at least one of these vehicles with an electric car in the medium term. Again, Schnell sees potential for the electric car among commuters who travel up to 100 kilometres a day from the ‘affluent suburbs’ into the city centre.
Property developers should also make a contribution to this endeavour. Electric cars could only occupy a permanent place in the urban traffic mix if the network of charging points expands. "Every property company must shoulder some of the social responsibility which we also bear", asserts Schnell. By August 2011 there were around 29 public electricity charging points in the Munich urban area according to the ‘Bundesverband Elektromobilität’ (BEM), Germany’s e-mobility association. The launch of a further 8 charging points means that there are now altogether 37 outlets for around 200 electric cars in Munich. E.ON operates an additional 20 charging points in areas around the Bavarian capital.
Use of the charging points is aimed especially at those drivers taking part in the "e-fleet" model project. As part of this project – which is supported by the Federal Ministry of Transport – the project partners aim to build up experience in the practical use of electric cars. While their particular focus is directed at the needs of customers in terms of vehicles and vehicle charging infrastructure, the charging points are available to all other interested parties as well.
