11. 10. 2018

McDonald’s is expanding its network by offering fast-charging stations for electric cars in cooperation with ČEZ

The fast food chain McDonald’s is offering its customers the opportunity of fast charging for their electric cars. Thanks to its cooperation with the ČEZ Group, ABB public fast charging stations are currently being installed in selected locations throughout the Czech Republic. The latest area is available for use on the premises of a restaurant in Průmyslová street in Prague. This infrastructure is being built also thanks to the European grant from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) program.

The new location of fast charging stations was opened today by (from the left) Miroslav Kuželka, Product Director for e-mobility ABB Czech Republic, Ivana Prosecká, Development Director at McDonald’s Czech Republic and David Martinek, Head of Sales at ČEZ ESCO

In cooperation with Electromobility of the ČEZ Group, the car parks of McDonald's restaurants are being equipped with fast-charging stations making it possible to recharge 80% of battery capacity in about 20-30 minutes for most electric cars. Following the recent opening of two charging stations at McDonald’s in Písek, on the 66th kilometre of the D1 motorway and on Evropská street in Prague, two fast-charging stations have been made available to drivers also in Průmyslová street 30, in Prague.

McDonald’s first ČEZ public charging station was put into operation on 22 August 2012 at a branch on Evropská street in Prague. This charging location with so called normal charging was replaced with fast-charging equipment this year as a part of the new round of installations.

“McDonald’s strives to ensure a responsible attitude to the environment at global, European as well as domestic level. Supporting electromobility is therefore a logical step. The connection of McDonald’s wide network of restaurants with ČEZ makes even greater sense thanks to the current fast charging technology. Customers can therefore recharge not only their energy but also the energy of their electric vehicles during a visit. Nowadays, ČEZ charging stations are available at five locations. We would like to continue our cooperation in other locations, especially in cities and on motorways” said Ivana Prosecká, Head of Finance and Development Department of McDonald’s Czech Republic..

 With more than 120 public charging stations, ČEZ is the operator of the largest domestic network, and McDonald’s is the leader in the fast food market. Therefore we have decided to cooperate and develop the electromobility network together. Fast food chains are logical places for electric car charging, mainly due to its availability and practical facilities. The European grant from the CEF program for Transport has been a great help in speeding up the construction of the fast charging station network,” said  Kamil Čermák, Chief Executive Officer of ČEZ ESCO.

With its innovative and efficient infrastructure technology for electric vehicle charging, ABB plays a key role in the development of sustainable mobility. Several projects throughout the Czech Republic demonstrate that ABB is the preferred partner in the field of fast charging technology and leading technology partner for creating the nationwide charging network in the Czech Republic said Tanja Vainio, Chief Executive Officer of ABB Czech Republic and Slovakia.

As a part of the two European programs Connecting Europe Facility, ČEZ will build more than 100 fast charging stations by the end of 2020, some of which are already available to public. The European Commission thus provides support for the interconnection of Europe through building charging stations along the main TENT-T road network. In addition to utilization of subsidies, ČEZ also continues to construct charging infrastructure from its own resources.

In the Czech Republic there are currently more than 2,000 registered electric vehicles. Just in the last year, 400 electric cars were added to this number, and this year, this number was already exceeded by the end of July.  Projections of future development indicate that, within the next few years, annual sales of electric cars and plug-in hybrids will be in the order of thousands. The gradual removal of the biggest barriers (limited choice, high price, low density of charging infrastructure and low customer experience) combined with supportive measures (free entry into city centres, parking zones, permission to drive in lanes dedicated to public transport, etc.) should lead to a quick increase to 20% of total sales vehicles and light utility vehicles in the Czech Republic.

McDonald’s

McDonald’s has the largest network of restaurants on the Czech market where it has been active for over 25 years. The first restaurant opened on 20 March 1992 in Vodičkova street in Prague, and since that time, the number of restaurants has grown to the current almost 100 branches. McDonald’s makes long-term efforts to reduce the impact of its restaurant operation and of the activities of its suppliers on the environment and takes practical steps, by which it endeavours to draw attention to the importance of these questions. In 2018, the company declared its intention to replace all packaging materials with materials from renewable, recyclable or certified sources within the next 7 years. Moreover, by 2030, it plans to decrease greenhouse emissions from the operation of restaurants, offices and activities of its supplier chain by 36% (compared to the 2015 levels).

ČEZ Group

The ČEZ Group currently operates more than 120 public charging stations for electric vehicles, half of which are fast-charging stations. Customers can use this network with unique RFID chip or by direct payment for a single use. At the same time, in the area of electromobility, the ČEZ Group offers a wide range of related services and products for companies, municipalities and regions. This includes, for example, design and installation of turn-key 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. For more, visit http://www.elektromobilita.cz/cs/mapa-dobijecich-stanic.html.              

ABB

AABB (ABBN: Six Swiss Ex) is a leader and pioneer in the area of electrotechnical products, robotics and drives, industrial automation and power generation. ABB serves customers in the power, industrial, transport and infrastructure sectors from around the world. Building on its more than 130-year tradition of innovation, ABB today creates the future of industrial digitization and has two clear value objectives: to bring electric energy from any electric power station to any electric socket and to automate various fields from natural resources to final products. As titular partner of Formula E, an international category of FIA races for purely electric vehicles, ABB shifts the boundaries of e-mobility and contributes to a sustainable future. ABB operates in more than 100 countries worldwide and has approximately 147,000 employees. www.abb.com.

Contact for media

ČEZ, a. s.                                             McDonald’s ČR, spol. s r. o.                           

Martin Schreier                                     Zuzana Svobodová           

Spokesperson                                      Director of PR Communications
McDonald´s Czech Republic

Tel. +420 725 765 848                             Tel. +420 731 111 351

martin.schreier@cez.cz                       zuzana.svobodova@cz.mcd.com 

ABB ČR, s. r. o.                 

Kateřina Pištorová

Marketing Communications Officer

Tel: +420 775 977 570

E-mail: katerina.pistorova@cz.abb.com

Martin Schreier, ČEZ Spokesperson