Twelve Renault ZOE electric cars with a battery capacity of 52 kWh purposefully discharged for the test, and against them the ČEZ set with three public ABB fast charging stations supported by a battery system with a capacity of 275 kWh and rooftop photovoltaics with an output of 20 kW. Thus, the cards were dealt before today's stress test of the charging system in Vestec, the first Czech simultaneous charging of 6 e-cars from three stations. It also does not happen every day that 12 e-cars of the same brand charge their batteries in one location in a few hours.
The cars came for the test with a residual capacity of about 10% of the battery. For the rest of the morning, two electric cars charged their batteries at each of the three charging stations in Vestec, one with a fast 50 DC and the other with a standard 22 AC connector. The charging system has proven the ability to operate all cars at once.
“We are glad that today we managed to combine an attractive form with professional content. Specific demonstrations of the capabilities of charging stations and electric cars is the key to even greater people's trust in e-cars. The specific experience from the test result in Vestec is also an impetus for us to consider equipping other locations of charging stations with a reserve in the form of decentralized sources and storage units”, says Tomáš Chmelík, ČEZ Clean Technology Section Manager.
“We intentionally selected 12 Renault ZOE electric cars from our dealerships literally all over the country for the test, so that we could also compare the reaction of the car's batteries on different routes. For all cars, the consumption on their journey was continuously monitored depending on the inclination conditions and the nature of the ride. Of course, consumption at individual charging stations in Vestec was also subjected to measurements and subsequent analyses”, said Zdeněk Grunt, CEO of Renault Česká republika, a.s.
ČEZ, Renault Česká republika, a.s., the ENET VŠB Centre – Technical University of Ostrava, Brno University of Technology and ABB cooperated in the event. The ENET Centre is the author of a comprehensive monitoring system that continuously monitors and measures not only the condition of the charging system, but also, for example, external influences such as weather.
ELECTROMOBILITY IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC – ON THE WAY UP
There are approximately 4500 electric cars currently registered in the Czech Republic. In 2018, the number of e-cars increased by 725, last year by 789 electric cars, and this year until the end of August by 1,503 electric cars. Estimates of further development speak of annual sales in the order of thousands of electric cars and plug-in hybrids. As is the case in other developed European countries, electric cars are becoming a common part of traffic in the Czech Republic, especially in the cities. The longer driving range of the new types of electric cars combined with higher density of public charging stations open the possibility of intercity travel for electromobility.
Across the Czech Republic, more than 400 professional public charging stations are currently available to electric car drivers. ČEZ currently operates about 230 stations, more than ¾ networks are fast-charging stands. The rapid growth of electromobility in the Czech Republic is probably best illustrated by the fact that the volume of consumption at ČEZ stations in the amount of 1.1 million kWh is 13.6% higher in the first half of the year than in the whole of 2018. In the first half of the year, e-car drivers stopped at ČEZ stations a total of 80,754 times. On average, they “pumped” 13.5 kWh of electricity at one stop at the charger.
All electricity taken from ČEZ stands has a certification of origin from renewable energy sources issued by the OTE market operator. Within the “Evidence of Guarantees of Origin” information system, it registers and issues a certificate for electricity originating from renewable sources and from high-efficiency combined heat and power generation.
The construction of ČEZ stands is partly funded through two grants of the European CEF programme for the Transport Area whose challenge has been successfully met by ČEZ in the past. In this way, the European Commission supports the interconnection of Europe by building charging stations along the main TEN-T road network. Part of the network is also being created thanks to the funds allocated by the Transport Operational Programme, and about half of the fast charging stations have so far been built by ČEZ using its own resources.
The ČEZ Group has been active in the area of electromobility development since 2009. Since the very beginning, its primary activity has been the construction and operation of public charging stations. Today its scope is much wider and includes a service to customers from the retail segment (ČEZ Prodej, s.r.o.) as well as a service to clients from the business sector, municipalities or regions (ČEZ ESCO). The ČEZ Group provides, for example, design and installation of turnkey charging stations, electrification of car fleets, charging platforms, including IT solutions, rentals or sales of electric cars or wall boxes and charging cables. For local authorities, ČEZ offers the implementation and operation of charging stations for electric buses or design of electromobility concepts in individual towns and regions.
The Renault Group, a car manufacturer since 1898, is an international group operating in 134 countries, which sold almost 3.8 million vehicles in 2019. It now employs over 180,000 people in 36 production sites and 12,700 points of sale worldwide. In addressing the major technological challenges of the future and continuing its strategy of profitable growth, the group relies on its development on an international scale. It relies on the complementarity of its five brands (Renault, Dacia, Renault Samsung Motors, Alpine and LADA), on electric cars and a unique junction with Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors. It has been more than a decade since the introduction of the ZOE Z.E. original concept and the launch of the first electric model in 2009. During this period, the Renault Group established itself as a pioneer and leader in the field of electric mobility, mainly due to the success of its flagship in the electric car segment. In July of this year, European sales of Renault electric cars exceeded 300,000 vehicles sold since the launch, and the brand remains the European market leader.
