Switzerland-based energy storage firm Leclanché is teaming up with a Dutch company on a pilot batteries project aimed at creating a network of energy-efficient electric vehicle (EV) fast charging stations across Europe.
Leclanché said it will initially develop a battery storage system “using large-format lithium-ion batteries” at two unnamed locations for Fastned— which already operates 63 fast charging EV stations it has built in the Netherlands.
The system “will allow Fastned to deploy multiple high powered chargers per site while reducing the strain on the grid”, Leclanché said. “The battery acts as a buffer between the electricity grid and the vehicles charging.”
Leclanché said the system will allow Fastned to store energy from its on-site solar roof panels, with off-peak recharging of the batteries.
Each of Fastned’s highway charging stations have up to eight fast chargers, which the company said delivers a full charge within 20 minutes. Fastned’s ‘city stations’ have up to four fast chargers each. Payments are made via an app.
Fastned founder and CEO Michiel Langezaal said the pilot project “will showcase the technology and provide the data to support financing the roll-out of Leclanché batteries throughout our network”.
Last April, Fastned signed an agreement with Transport for London to become a partner in developing 300 fast charging points in the UK capital by 2020. Earlier this month, Fastned was awarded a EUR4.1 million ($4.9m) German government subsidy to build 25 fast charging stations.
Earlier this year, Leclanché received certification for its lithium titanate oxide cells allowing the company to supply its EV batteries to China.
In June, Leclanché said it had secured a deal to provide Skoda Electric with batteries for that firm’s worldwide electric bus expansion strategy. The following month, Leclanché announced a partnership to build and operate 34 fast charging EV stations along the Trans-Canada Highway, with installation of the stations from the second quarter of 2018, following trials.
Leclanché has also revealed it is in “advanced negotiations with an automotive systems integrator for a large volume battery solutions contract in India, for which test units are being shipped shortly”.
