Ellen Hiep

On April 18th, Dutch Secretary of State Van Veldhoven, opened the new test site of ElaadNL in Arnhem. At the test location, all different types of charging stations that are used in the Netherlands are available for tests with electric cars. For example, the effects of charging new types of cars on the electricity grid can be tested. Tests with Smart Charging are also possible. This means cars are instructed to charge faster or slower based on the availability of (sustainable) electricity on the grid. These tests are essential now the numbers of electric cars are growing. All are plugged into the existing network to charge.

The test site is located in business park Arnhems Buiten (former KEMA site) and contains all types of charging stations that are used in the public area in the Netherlands. This includes a fast charger, a charging island, a battery and two charging lanterns. Moreover, the site is equipped with meters so that unique tests and research can be carried out. For example, a new model of electric car can be tested on the interaction with all charging stations throughout the Netherlands before it enters our roads in large numbers. Grid operators can test what a car (actually a battery on wheels) does with the quality of the current. In addition, tests are being done with Smart Charging: instructing the car to charge faster or slower at certain times. For example when extra power from the sun or wind is available or in case an overload of the local electricity grid can occur. This way extra CO2 can be saved.

“An asset for the Netherlands”

State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management, Van Veldhoven: “Charging your electric vehicle should be as easy as charging your phone. This testing facility is therefore a great asset for the Netherlands: here we can experiment and see what works, how we can charge and find ways to make electric driving as easy as possible. That knowledge is essential for making transportation cleaner, fighting climate change and fulfil the Paris agreements. Let’s reduce our carbon emissions by the megatons!
Onoph Caron, managing director of ElaadNL: “For electric cars it’s not just a matter of how well they drive, it’s just as important how well they charge. These are big electrical machines that can demand a lot of our electricity grid and our charging infrastructure. Together with our partners, we can now test and measure the way we charge vehicles with all charging stations available in the Netherlands. For the future of electric driving in the Netherlands, important things are going to happen here on this test site!”

More about the Elaad Test Lab

The Elaad Test Lab is a unique laboratory with a test site for research on and testing of Smart Charging, Power Quality and Interoperability. It includes, among other things, the various types of charging stations in the public space in the Netherlands, a fast charger, two charging lanterns, a battery (138 kWh), a charging island, solar panels and urban windmills that can all be centrally controlled via a computer system. They form a completely smart energy system. The Test Lab is equipped so that unique tests and in-depth investigations can be carried out. In this way, the charging behaviour of cars can be analysed in great detail and things such as switch-on peaks, inefficient energy consumption and high frequency disturbances on the current and voltage can be measured.

The tests mainly take place on three themes:

1. Smart Charging

Tests with Smart Charging: instructing the electric car and infrastructure to charge faster or slower at certain times. For example, when extra power from the sun or wind is available or if an overload of the local electricity grid occurs. We can also test whether an electric car is Smart Charging ready: can the car handle different charging speeds and delayed charging? Does it respond in time and is the car still charging efficiently at lower speeds?

2. Power Quality

Testing Power Quality. What effect does a charging electric car have on the quality of the electric current, the voltage and the stability of the electricity grid? If vehicles cause distortion of the grid voltage, this can lead to problems on other connected electrical devices, but also on electric cars and charging stations themselves. The effects can be recorded in detail and studied at the ElaadNL Test Lab.

3. Interoperability

Car manufacturers and battery manufacturers can test their products at the ElaadNL Test Lab on interoperability and compatibility. For example, a new model of electric car can be tested on the interaction with all the different types of charging stations in the Netherlands before it enters our roads in large numbers. This ensures car manufacturers that their car can communicate correctly with the different types of charging stations in the Netherlands, so that charging problems can be prevented.

Vice Governor Elisabeth Post of the Province of Noord-Holland and Dr. Maarten Sierhuis, Chief Technology Director, Nissan Research Center Silicon Valley teaming up to demonstrate tangible solutions for autonomous, connected, electric and shared mobility challenges.

• NACTO is an association of 62 major North American cities and ten transit agencies formed to exchange transportation ideas, insights, and practices and cooperatively approach national transportation issues. NACTO’s mission is to build cities as places for people, with safe, sustainable, accessible and equitable transportation choices that support a strong economy and vibrant quality of life.
• How will autonomous vehicles (AVs) affect the evolution of our cities, the way we plan and design our multimodal transport infrastructure, and provide mobility to all socio-economic groups? Have a look at the latest research of Fehr & Peers, on how will autonomous vehicles influence the future of travel?
• The National Street Service Cities Program is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to make streets better for their community. During the program, people look at, listen to, and observe their street; create opportunities to help others reimagine what the street is for; and collaborate on projects to make streets welcoming for everyone.

The Hague, December 12, 2017 — Amber, ARS Traffic and Goudappel Coffeng have joined the Trans-Atlantic Coast to Coast Smart e-Mobility Program to cooperate and develop the US and Dutch Smart e-Mobility market. A signing ceremony took place at the Ministry of Economic Affairs. During the ceremony, led by Dr. Bertholt Leeftink, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs, Mr. Steven Nelemans, CEO of Amber, Dr. Jan Linssen, CEO of ARS Traffic and Mr. Jos van Kleef, CEO of Goudappel Coffeng signed and joined the program.

“Coast-to-Coast Smart e-Mobility is very excited that Amber, ARS and Goudappel Coffeng are joining the partnership”, says Peter van Deventer, Director, “All three companies bring very exciting smart e-mobility solutions to the table. They all have a strong focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. I consider all three organizations great assets to the transatlantic cooperation between The Netherlands and California. Their ambitions to accelerate solutions for smarter and cleaner electric transportation are amazing.””

“Shared electric cars are the future,” explains Steven Nelemans, CEO of Amber, “and we’re going to do our best to make that happen sooner than later. We plan to expand internationally in the next few months, so this partnership is a logical next step for us.”

“This partnership leverages ARS T&TT European Smart Mobility success in the likewise USA ecosystem” says Dr. Jan Linssen. “It will show that Smart Mobility is not just a fashionable term, but is a way to let mobility intensive people and businesses grow and prosper AND contribute to sustainability.”

“Smart mobility is one of the areas in which we already have a lot of experience,” says Jos van Kleef, ceo of Goudappel Coffeng. “But we strongly believe in partnerships from coast to coast – to not only build up new relationships but also work together on smart and innovative mobility plans.”

Charging times of five minutes for 100 kilometres possible

Berlin, 20 December 2017 – As of today, Europe has its first publicly accessible ‘ultra-fast charger point’. This new generation of fast charging stations is part of a transnational network of pioneering charging technology. Allego is currently equipping a corridor that runs through the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany right up to the Austrian border with 21 ultra-fas charging stations. These enable upcoming models of long range electric cars to charge a range of 100 kilometres in five minutes. The first fast chargers are now operational in Kleinostheim near by Frankfurt am Main, Germany, near the A3 motorway. The four ultra-fast chargers are located at the Aschaffenburg-West exit on Saaläcker Strasse. Four e-cars can be charged simultaneously at the stations, initially with 175 kW. I n the spring of 2018, the charging stations will be upgraded to enable up to 350 kW to be charged at two of the four connections – making for even faster charging. The facilities at the station will be supplemented with an additional multi-standard 50kW charger. The new ‘Ultra-E’ charging stations will be erected at intervals of 150 to 200 kilometres, in the immediate vicinity of motorway exits. More stations will follow, the next one in Bernau am Chiemsee, Southeast Germany.

From the summer of 2018, destinations on the corridor from the Dutch coast to the Austrian border will be more easily accessible in an e-car. ‘We are delighted to be setting a milestone for future electro-mobility in Europe with this new generation of fast chargers,’ says Allego COO Ulf Schulte. The ultra-fast charging stations are designed to accommodate many current and future types of e-car. They are particularly suited to the new long range e-cars that will be available from 2018. With these new ultra-fast chargers, Allego is supplementing its existing fast charging network of 250 50kW charging stations, making it a pioneer in Europe. ‘Interoperability comes as standard at Allego. We support all the current charging cards and access apps, enabling anyone to charge their e-car at Allego and quickly be on their way,’ says Schulte. ‘It is thanks chiefly to our working relationships with our numerous partners that we are able to offer this comprehensive service.’ The ‘Ultra-E’ project is funded by an alliance of energy companies, vehicle manufacturers, automotive suppliers, a roaming platform and public institutions. Besides Allego BV, which acts as coordinator, Audi AG, BMW i, Renault Magna, Bayern Innovativ, Hubject, Smatrics and Verbund AG are also involved. A total budget of EUR 13 million is available for the expansion of the ‘Ultra-E’ corridor, which is part-financed by the European Union’s ‘Connecting Europe Facility’.

About Allego

Allego is a leading provider of charging solutions which has significant expertise in e-mobility, including the creation of a network of multi standard fast chargers throughout The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom and Luxembourg. Allego deploys more than 7000 charging sockets in urban areas and along major transportation routes. The main focus of the company is to provide an international reliable network of both AC- and DC charging and support companies and EV drivers via an EV Cloud based service platform.

Tarana joined the Trans-Atlantic Coast to Coast Smart e-Mobility Program to cooperate and develop the US and Dutch Smart e-Mobility market. A signing ceremony took place at the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in San Francisco. During the ceremony, led by Consul General Mr. Gerbert Kunst, Dr. Omar Bakr, CEO and co-founder of Tarana signed and joined the program.

“Coast-to-Coast Smart e-Mobility is very excited that Tarana is joining the partnership”, says Peter van Deventer, Director, “Tarana has developed unique data transfer solutions which are crucial for the mass deployment of smart e-mobility solutions. Tarana is uniquely positioned and very strong on innovation and entrepreneurship. I consider them a great assets to the transatlantic cooperation between The Netherlands and California. Their ambitions to accelerate solutions for smarter and cleaner electric transportation are just amazing.”

“As we all know from our own experience, anyone with time on their hands while in transit grabs their smartphone or tablet and gets on the internet if they can” says Omar Bakr, CEO of Tarana. “Driverless, shared cars — which create more free time for us all in addition to reducing road congestion and carbon emissions — will no doubt create a whole new set of challenges for mobile networks, for high-throughput device connectivity as well as high-reliability and low-latency communication with the cars themselves. Adding Tarana’s unrivaled developments in reliable, resilient, gigabit wireless technology for forthcoming 5G networks to the S4C initiative will be a perfect complement to parallel advances in e-mobility and clean energy.”

Peter van Deventer (Director Smart e-Mobility), Gerbert Kunst (Consul General), Steven Glapa (VP Marketing), Omar Bakr (CEO)

Amber, Everest Solutions Group and EZY Mobility have joined the Trans-Atlantic Coast to Coast Smart e-Mobility Program to cooperate and develop the US and Dutch Smart e-Mobility market. A signing ceremony took place at NLInvest, the new initiative by the Dutch Government to stimulate economic growth. During the ceremony, led by Dr. Bertholt Leeftink, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs, Mr. Hans de Penning, CTO of Amber, Mr. Kam Hosn, CEO of ESG, Mr. Arnaud van der Sluis, CEO of EZY signed and joined the program.

“Shared electric cars are the future,” explains Steven Nelemans, CEO of Amber, “and we’re going to do our best to make that happen sooner than later. We plan to expand internationally in the next few months, so this partnership is a logical next step for us.”

“Wireless charging isn’t a solution in search of a problem”, says Arnaud van der Sluis, CEO of EZY, “Just the opposite: Cutting the cord eliminates multiple problems, starting with the obvious one of forgetting to plug in.”

“Coast-to-Coast Smart e-Mobility is very excited that Amber, ESG and ESG are joining the partnership”, says Peter van Deventer, Director, “All three companies bring very exciting smart e-mobility solutions to the table. They all strongly focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. I consider all three organizations great assets to the transatlantic cooperation between The Netherlands and California. Their ambitions to accelerate solutions for smarter and cleaner electric transportation are just amazing.”

A mission by experts from the Netherlands to highlight what they have to offer in smart mobility solutions to key US partners, is taking place October 30 through November 5, 2017. The Dutch Embassy, the Consulate General in Chicago, Connect, Brainport Eindhoven and the Coast to Coast Smart e-Mobility from the Consulate in San Francisco, is organizing a working visit and economic mission to Montreal Canada, Detroit Michigan and Columbus, Ohio.

The City of Columbus is of particular interest because it was chosen in June 2016 as winner of the American ‘smart city challenge’, and will be investing 140 million dollars in smart and e-mobility solutions in the next few years.

After a recent visit by Columbus to the Netherlands after EVS30 in Stuttgart, these contacts are now further strengthened with a return visit to policy makers, companies and universities. The goal is to bring the Netherlands into the spotlight and begin collaborating on projects, thus creating opportunities for US and Dutch companies. For this reason, the Province of Noord-Brabant, has signed an Addendum stating that they formally join the MoU which was signed last year with Ohio State University, for expert exchanges, student exchanges, and joint planning with the City of Columbus.

Growth opportunities for the automotive industry

The automotive sector forms an important area of interest and economic support in the municipality of Helmond and the Brainport Eindhoven Region as a whole. Brainport is exploring various opportunities to internationally position regional automotive companies and the Automotive Campus with a specific international programme. Research by Automotive NL shows that most opportunities for growth in the automotive industry are to be found in the US, Canada and France. Given this background, a Brainport delegation executed a factfinding visit to Canada and Columbus in June 2016 and October 2017. This led to further cooperation with Columbus, further aided by the STORM electric motorcycle around-the-world tour as a starting point for a comprehensive working visit by various regional representatives from the automotive sector. The Vice Governor the Province of Noord-Brabant, Mr. Christhophe van der Maat, together with Mr. Daan de Cloe, Director AV at TNO are leading the delegation on their visit and attend the events organized ITS 2017 in Montreal in Canada.

On March 13,  EVBox organizes ‘rEVolution’, the annual speaking and networking conference that aims to educate professionals on the latest and upcoming developments in the e-mobility industry, as well as to inspire everyone to create better opportunities for a more sustainable future of mobility. 2018’s theme is [F = m · a] the power to accelerate. rEVolution 2018 is expected to bring 500 enthusiasts and experts from the electric mobility industry at this event.

Visit the website for more information or a pre-sign up:  www.revolution18.amsterdam.

Yesterday a unique race was held at Rio Linda Preparatory Academy in Rio Linda, California. Three Stella generations were put to the test and raced against each other: STELLA (2013), STELLA LUX (2015) and STELLA VIE (2017).

In three Semi Finale heats the best from each generation were advanced to the FINAL. In the final the seven best raced against each other: two Stella’s, three Lux’s and two Vie’s.

Who do you think won the first Mini Stella race in the world featuring all Stella generations?

Check out the video below…