(1888PressRelease)
July 17, 2009 - RWE is presenting the “filling station of the future” in Berlin. But it is electricity that is doing the filling, not petrol or diesel. “We want electric mobility to become an integral part of our society”, said Dr. Rolf Martin Schmitz, Board member of RWE AG, at the launch in the Sony Center on Potsdamer Platz, Berlin. The project partners are automobile club ADAC, car hire firm Sixt, Siemens and APCOA, Germany’s largest car park provider. Together, they are sending the electric filling station on a road-show tour to seven German cities.
Environmentally friendly and cost-efficient mobility
“It’s not just a question of replacing petrol by electricity. It’s about bringing renewables onto our streets”, said Rolf Martin Schmitz when describing the vision of electric mobility. New wind farms and new solar energy facilities improve the climate footprint of the electric car as they feed clean energy into the grid. With the current energy mix in Germany, electric cars are already more environmentally friendly than any petrol-driven vehicle.
“Electric mobility will become a part of our energy supply network and will increase the share of environmentally friendly power generation. Since the batteries of the electric cars can be charged for variable periods of time, the share of renewables in the grid, which fluctuate depending on time of day or year, can be utilised more efficiently”, explained Wolfgang Dehen, CEO of the project partner Siemens Energy. However, the future is not just clean, it is also cost-efficient: depending on the petrol price, it costs only half as much to fully harge an electric car as it does to fill up a petrol tank. The ADAC automobile association is also participating in the project. “The ADAC considers it essential to provide its members and the general public with comprehensive and competent information about all fuel alternatives. Electric cars play an important role here as they are a promising technology for the future,” said Stefan Mueller, ADAC’s Board Chairman.
Full infrastructure coverage
The experts at RWE estimate that there will be up to 2.5 million electric cars on Germany’s roads by the year 2020. And of course, they will need to recharge with electricity. In Berlin, RWE has already set up 56 charging points for electric cars, by mid 2010 this number will have increased to some 500. “Berlin is and will remain a city in which new and future-looking ideas will have room to develop. I am sure that very soon, the charging points, which still look slightly unusual because they are so new, will become a trademark of Berlin as a clean metropolis,” said Maria Krautzberger, State Secretary for Traffic and Urban Development.
It takes several hours to charge an electric car. This is why RWE is setting up the charging points in places where cars are parked anyway. For example, in the car parks of partner APCOA. “We believe in the future of the electric car. For us, the partnership with RWE is a project that is sending out a clear signal,” said Thomas Veith, Managing Director of APCOA Autoparking GmbH, at the launch of the road show.
Charging points will be set up in Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt/Main, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Munich before the end of this year. But the big cities are just the start. The longterm aim is to have a network of charging points to cover the whole of Europe. For this reason 20 companies are supporting the development of a standardised charging plug that drivers can use to recharge their electric cars anywhere.
Driving enjoyment with a sporty touch
Germany’s leading mobility service provider, Sixt is also supporting the road show. “Sixt is the innovation leader in car rentals. That is why we promote alternative, low-consumption fuel types,” said Erich Sixt, Board Chairman of Sixt AG. “It is in the stop-and-go traffic in cities, where a lot of fuel is used, that electric cars can gain a good lead on conventional fuels.” Sixt, RWE and Siemens are providing an eRUF, an eRUF Greenster and a Tesla Roadster for people to do organised test drives. Visitors to the road show can see how enjoyable electric cars can be by trying them out themselves. You can see these and other cars at the “filling station of the future” in the Sony Center on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin until 19 July. After that they will be going on their road-show tour around Germany.
Road show stations:
* Berlin (Sony Center on Potsdamer Platz), 15 to 19 July 2009
* Dortmund/Essen (location see www.rwe-mobility.com), 30 July to 8 August 2009
* Dusseldorf (location see www.rwe-mobility.com), 14 to 19 August 2009
* Hamburg (location see www.rwe-mobility.com), 27 August to 2 September 2009
* Frankfurt am Main (Agora site at the IAA in Frankfurt), 10 to 27 September 2009
* Munich (location see www.rwe-mobility.com), 8 to 14 October 2009
* Mainz (location see www.rwe-mobility.com), 22 to 28 October 2009
Printable picture material:
Printable picture material on RWE electric power for cars can be downloaded free at www.rwemobility.com and www.rweimages.com (access code: EM09).
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