The popularity of electric mobility in Europe is enormous – now there is an urgent need for a nationwide charging infrastructure, both in the public, semi-public and private sectors. In less than seven years, more than seven times the number of charging points installed across Europe today must be set up in order to achieve the goals of the European Union (2030: 3.5 million). Around 260 companies presented important components of the mobility transition such as intelligent charging solutions, mobility services and electric vehicles at Power2Drive Europe 2023.
Jasmina Bunic, Head of eMobility Schneider Electric in the DACH region: “For us, Power2Drive Europe is an essential part of the event calendar. On three intensive days, trade visitors, potential customers, new and existing contacts meet to talk about innovations in the industry. Experience electromobility emotionally – it is possible here.”
Sector coupling: photovoltaics for the charging infrastructure, car batteries as flexible storage
Power2Drive Europe 2023 also made it clear that the world of mobility is part of a system of closely interlinked sectors. The smart combination of photovoltaics (PV), storage and e-mobility is the key to our mobile life. Sector coupling is already being used in parking lots, for example, when charging stations are supplied with PV electricity directly from the solar parking lot roof on site, and thus makes a double contribution to the necessary development of the new energy and mobility world. In addition, the importance of e-vehicles as mobile energy stores is growing: e-cars can supply homes and offices (vehicle-to-home, vehicle-to-building) with electricity – and also stabilize the public grid (vehicle-to-grid). . Car batteries as flexible storage in an intelligent network will be a decisive factor in the future to ensure a stable energy supply and to achieve climate targets cost-effectively. Innovations for bidirectional charging could be experienced at Power2Drive Europe 2023, among other things during live demonstrations of Wallbox Chargers.
Marcus Fendt, Managing Director at The Mobility House: “Power2Drive Europe is becoming more important for us every year, as it is developing into the leading product fair for charging electric cars in Europe. Nowhere else do we meet so many customers and partners. For us as a technology company, exchange is essential given the increasing dynamics of intelligent charging and vehicle-to-grid technology. In order for the energy transition to succeed, it is precisely this networking that is required to move forward quickly.”
The outdoor area attracted a great deal of interest: E-vehicles from well-known manufacturers were available to trade visitors for test drives. Among others, Skoda, Lucid and Nissan offered interested parties the opportunity to get behind the wheel and experience the driving experience of an electric car. Fleet managers, who can make a significant contribution to CO2 reduction in municipalities or companies by electrifying their fleets, and some visitors to the energy trade fairs taking place at the same time were convinced of the advantages of e-vehicles, from motorcycles to commercial vehicles.
Premiere: Power2Drive AWARD honors outstanding innovations
The Power2Drive Europe trade fair also celebrated its AWARD premiere: for the first time, innovators in the field of electromobility and charging infrastructure were honored with the prize. The awards went to Hive Power for the FLEXO Smart Charge software-as-a-service platform, paXos Consulting & Engineering for the Cool-Load Megawatt charging plug and TWAICE Technologies for the “Mobility In-life Battery Health Analytics” software solution. The fact that e-mobility is becoming an important part of the entire smart energy system was also made clear by the awards given to Power2Drive Europe exhibitors at the parallel energy trade fairs: Wallbox Charger received the The smarter E AWARD for the SIRIUS energy management system. The Mobility House received the EM-Power AWARD for ChargePilot, an energy management system for optimized charging.
Power2Drive Europe Conference shows challenges in international competition
At the successful Power2Drive Europe Conference (June 13-14, 2023), experts presented market trends, analysis and research results as well as innovative projects in the fields of e-mobility and charging systems. The participants agreed that e-mobility enthusiasts – whether with one vehicle or with an entire fleet – as prosumers will contribute to a sustainable energy supply in the future and will also benefit from it themselves. The conference participants see China’s speed of innovation as a challenge, which motivates and with which it is important to keep up. “The transformation towards electric mobility is no longer a phenomenon of the future – it is happening today and in the now. China is at the forefront of innovation – Europe defines the standards,” said Heiko Seitz, PwC Global eMobility Leader. Experts see great potential in Europe in the electrification of commercial vehicles.
Power2Drive Europe 2024 and the parallel trade fairs Intersolar Europe, ees Europe and EM-Power Europe will take place from June 19 to 21, 2024 as part of Europe’s largest energy industry platform The smarter E Europe at the Munich Exhibition Center.