The ČEZ Group’s network of public charging stations in the Czech Republic supplied a total of 1,963,523 kWh of electricity to charge the the batteries of electric cars last year, which is the equivalent of fully charging a VW eGolf vehicle with a battery capacity of 36 kWh 54,542 times. This is also an increase by nearly 105 per cent compared to 2018, when electric cars consumed 959,115 kWh from the entire electric car “charger” network. E-cars stopped by ČEZ charging stands to recharge a total of 153,612 times. In 2018, a total of 75,584 charging cycles took place at the network’s charging stations, which was more than twice the number compared to the 35,902 cycles a year earlier.

“Dynamic development is supported both by the growing number of electric cars in the Czech Republic and also the expansion of the network of ČEZ public charging stations. We assume that, at the current rate of acceleration of development of electromobility in the Czech Republic, we should pass the threshold of three million kWh of consumed electricity next year by quite a large margin. More frequent charging of small volumes is also becoming a trend. The average consumption of electricity in one charging cycle at a charging station has stabilised at 12.7 kWh over the last two years,” says Tomáš Chmelík, manager of the ČEZ Company’s Clean Energy Division.

Locations equipped with quick-charging stands, which allow most e-cars to charge their battery to most of its capacity in approx. 20 – 30 minutes, thanks to an output of 50kW, remain the most frequently used locations.

Top locations - 2019

The ČEZ Group’s Electromobility Division, which has the most extensive domestic network of public charging stations, operates over 190 devices designed for charging the batteries of e-cars, of which 80 are quick-chargers. More at https://www.elektromobilita.cz/cs/mapa-dobijecich-stanic. Construction is partially financed by two grants from the European CEF programme for the field of Transport, the calls of which ČEZ successfully responded to last year and the year before. The European Commission uses this method to promote interconnection of Europe by establishment of charging stations along the main roads of the TEN-T network.

ČEZ uniformly installs ABB quick-charging stations at new locations. The standard equipment of these stations chiefly includes DC connectors with CHAdeMO and CCS charging standards, which allow charging at an output of up to 50 kW. The stations are connected to a platform operating on a cloud principle, which enables real-time monitoring of stations and performance of remote diagnostics on them.

When using any device in the entire network of charging stations, the user identifies himself by scanning an RFID customer card before charging his car, or users can pay directly for the consumed amount of electricity, using the relevant application.

There are currently over 3,000 e-cars registered in the Czech Republic. 400 electric vehicles were registered in 2017, 725 electric vehicles were registered a year later, and last year a record 789 e-cars were registered. Forecasts of future development estimate sales of thousands of electric cars and plug-in hybrids over a horizon of several years.  The gradual overcoming of the greatest obstacles (limited range, high price, sparse density of charging infrastructure and negligible customer experience) in combination with supporting measures (free entry into city centres, parking zones, driving in lanes for public transport, etc.) should mean that the 20% share in overall sales of passenger cars and light utility vehicles will be rapidly achieved in the Czech Republic.

The ČEZ Group has been active in developing electromobility since 2009. Its primary activity has always been establishment and operation of public charging stations. Today it has a much broader range of activities, including services for customers in the retail segment (ČEZ Sales) and services for clients in the corporate, municipality and regional sectors (ČEZ ESCO). The ČEZ Group also ensures, among other things, design and installation of turn-key charging stations, electrification of car fleets, charging platforms, including IT solutions, lease or sale of electric cars or wall-boxes and charging cables. ČEZ also offers realisation and operation of charging stations for electric buses or design of the electromobility concept in individual towns and regions for local administrations. More at https://www.elektromobilita.cz/cs/mapa-dobijecich-stanic.