The gigantic BMW Group, Daimler, Ford Motor Company, and the Volkswagen Group (along with its subsidiaries Audi & Porsche) will team up as a single unit to create a high-power charging network called “Ionity” for electric vehicles, which will build and operate nearly 400 charging stations across Europe by the end of second decade of 21st century.
The Ionity brand will operate around 20 charging stations by the end of 2017 and then aims to have 50 more availability in 2018. Each charging point will deliver a capacity of 350 kW, and the intent is for the charging to be brand-agnostic using the Combined Charging System (or CCS) standard. The present Combined Charging System Standard is backed by BMW, GM, Ford FCA, Daimler, VW, Hyundai and Tesla, and current vehicles that support it, including the Bolt EV, max out at 50 kW quick charging.
The collaborative venture-Ionity is planning to pick spots for its charging stations based on negotiations with political institutions and private firms and aims to put them in, in concert with existing infrastructure initiatives which are ongoing.
The Ionity venture formed by the gigantic automakers of the present era is intended to make it easier for Europeans to manage long road trips using electric cars, and to put in place a key infrastructure component required to make electric vehicles a viable option for general consumer use.
The step taken by automakers seems to be a big moment for the acceleration of electric vehicle adoption. This collaborative venture Ionity will directly be going to help the electric car producer companies in spreading their footprints in Europe.
The automobile collaborative venture like this one with their considerable brand power will go a long way toward making sure the charging network can meet future demand as more models become available and demand increases among consumers.
