Where to get the electricity for the electromobility of the future?
Builders, for example, say that the network of public utilities is too weak to equip large underground garages with e-mobile parking spaces. A Passau-based commercial vehicle manufacturer, which is increasingly focusing on e-mobility, has created the necessary network capacity with a simple trick.
This week, the company opened the second largest e-charging park in the Passau region near the Sperrwies industrial estate. 16 charging points at the e-charging station near the Passau-Mitte freeway exit.
"Demand from medium-sized businesses for e-vehicles is steadily increasing. Many entrepreneurs are currently converting their fleet from internal combustion to electric," Bernhard Wasner, managing director of the truck company, the operator of the e-charging stations, is quoted in a press release.
In the past, this long-established Passau company had rather angered climate and nature conservationists. A piece of Neuburg forest was once cleared for expansion and relocation from the city area to the highway; even more soil was sealed in the open countryside when a new branch plant was built on the northern Danube heights near Vilshofen. Of all people, a recycling company that was at the center of an environmental scandal involving toxic tar had taken over the filling of the site. Neighboring farmers worried about drainage.
Now for the good news: in 2018, the company that normally promotes high-horsepower internal combustion vehicles established a "green subsidiary" on the other shore in Vilshofen that focuses exclusively on electric-powered commercial vehicles.
– It converts commercial vehicles from diesel to electric engines, including the fleet of Berlin's municipal cleaning service.
– It entered into a cooperation with the founder of the electric Postbuses, a former own brand of Deutsche Post; this "Streetscooter" are being further developed and individually converted according to the wishes of local authorities or private companies.
– It cooperates with the manufacturer of a British electric minibus. Its product was briefly up for debate for Passau: The former operator of the Passau city bus line had tested in summer 2018 whether this e-bus was a suitable alternative for its old diesels.
In this light, there will have been plenty to talk about when Passau's deputy mayor Andreas Rother came to the opening of Passau's most powerful e-charging station.
Rudertinger entrepreneur Harald Praml, who planned and implemented the e-charging project, was the center of attention. With 34 charging points at its headquarters in the Passau district, it operates the largest e-filling station in the region. The Praml brothers had invited Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer to the opening of their flagship to convince them to move away from the combustion engine lobby and towards e-mobility.
The e-filling station in Sperrwies was a challenge, because – like the problem mentioned at the beginning with Passau underground garages – the existing mains connection of the public utility company would not have been sufficient to provide the necessary current strength. Praml and Wasner have solved it, through a simple cost-cutting measure. They completely converted the lighting of the large-scale operation, which consists of truck workshops, a car dealership and a gas station, to LED technology. "55 percent electricity saved, 48 tons of CO2 per year less", is the balance in the press release.
This suggests that with LED 50.000 to 80.000 kilowatt hours have been saved. This amount of electricity is enough to power an e-car in city traffic 400.000 to 500.000 kilometers.