Carmakers spend on internal EV charging points

19 March 2019

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and VW Group’s Skoda brand have installed hundreds of charging points at their facilities as they look to encourage employee uptake of electric vehicles (EV).

JLR has put 166 smart charging outlets at its Gaydon engineering centre, responding to research that shows 40% of electric car charging takes place at work. The company is also installing charging points in the visitors’ car park, allowing guests to take advantage of convenient fast-charging.

The 7kW AC smart charging stations, supplied by NewMotion (a Shell company), can add 22 miles of range to an all-electric Jaguar I-Pace every hour and 176 miles in total over an eight-hour day. The stations are cloud-connected and integrated with the NewMotion public charging network so employees can charge at stations across Europe using a single card. Users can also monitor and track charging throughout the day with a smartphone app.

′We hope that by providing a network of electric charging points to staff and visitors at our Gaydon engineering centre we can help encourage the uptake of alternative fuels amongst our employees,’ says Mick Cameron, head of e-mobility at JLR. ′It is all part of our commitment to act more sustainably – our UK facilities are already powered by 100% renewable electricity and we believe the new charging points will help our employees to tread lightly on their daily commute.’

Currently, 75% of EV users are unable to charge their cars at work in the UK, according to studies. The first phase of workplace charging will provide 166 smart charging spaces for electric vehicles at Jaguar Land Rover’s engineering centre in Gaydon before it installs further chargers at additional UK sites.

JLR is planning to electrify every model it offers by 2020 and is planning to make its new Design and Engineering centre in Gaydon as sustainable as possible. The building features the latest photovoltaic panels, thermal installation, low environmental impact construction materials and efficient LED lighting systems. These will help the building to achieve an improvement in CO2 emissions ahead of the national average.

Skoda plans

Meanwhile, Skoda has announced a €3.4 million investment in the expansion of its internal electric infrastructure at its company headquarters in Mladá Boleslav.

Last year, €1.65 million went into modernising and expanding the power grid at its headquarters, with a further €1.75 million on installing more than 300 charging points – including over 220 alternating current (AC) and 80 modern direct current (DC) charging stations.

The company says that by 2025, it will have provided €32 million for the construction of a charging infrastructure with almost 7,000 points at and around its three Czech factories in Mladá Boleslav, Kvasiny and Vrchlabí. The charging stations will be available for use mainly by the Czech car manufacturer’s employees.

CEO Bernhard Maier emphasises: ′Skoda’s future is electric. By the end of 2022, we will have launched more than ten electrified models. We are starting in 2019 with the Superb with plug-in hybrid drive and the all-electric Citigo. At the same time, Skoda is also investing in infrastructure: in the coming years, we will be establishing up to 7,000 charging points on the factory premises and in employee parking spaces.’