INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Fast-charging European network to trample on Tesla’s market reign
Work is under way to build 400 Ionity fast-charging stations across Europe by 2020
Loss-loving electric car maker Tesla has shed another moat, with Germany’s car-making giants accelerating work on a Europe-wide fast-charging network to make the US company’s Superchargers redundant. Work is under way to build 400 Ionity fast-charging stations across Europe by 2020 – just in time for a forecast flood of new battery electric vehicle (BEV) models European car makers will need to produce in order to meet that year’s tighter EU VII emissions regulations. Ionity already has its first tranche of 20 chargers spread along the main routes of Germany, Austria and Europe’s leading BEV-buying nation, Norway, and plans to have 50 chargers in operation by the end of 2017. There is a maximum of 120km between each station. The stations will use 350kW charging — more than twice the power of the second-generation 145kW Tesla Superchargers – and are said to be price competitive with other outlets. For a BEV with a 500km range, such as Porsche’s upcoming Mission E or Daimler’s Mercedes...
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