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Hardly anyone likes to stay longer than necessary at the gas station. This should be different at e-car charging stations in the future.
The quality of stay at a classic Gas station is manageable. Even the best-kept facilities smell of oil and benzene, the constant coming and going creates a feeling of hectic and the culinary offerings leave a lot to be desired. If you don't have to, you hardly stay longer than a few moments. The situation is necessarily different at e-car charging stations - because even the fastest battery charge takes several minutes. During this time, customers should feel as comfortable as possible.
Trend towards large charging parks
The charging station landscape in Germany is currently still strongly characterized by individual or a few socket pillars, which are either located at the side of the road, in fast food parking lots or at motorway service stations. With the increasing number of e-cars, the appearance of the infrastructure is also likely to change. The trend is already moving towards large charging parks with dozens of connection points, especially on expressways. Many have a roof and lighting designed to enhance well-being and a sense of security.
From the outside, the charging parks look like classic gas stations at first glance. No coincidence, as Linda Boll from the Dutch charging station operator Fastned explains: “The design of our stations is based on that of conventional filling stations. There it is important for the driver to be able to find the nearest fuel station quickly and easily and to be able to carry out the fueling process in an uncomplicated manner. The single charging station in a hidden and dark corner of the parking lot is not really promising for us.”
There is also another important aspect: Most drivers are familiar with how to use a classic gas station. In addition, the architecture and routing there are designed for smooth operation and the rapid refueling of large numbers of vehicles. On the other hand, in small charging parking spaces in front of the Burgerbude, depending on the vehicle and charging connection, you have to maneuver awkwardly. Which becomes a real problem at the latest when there is a trailer on the hook.
The British are ahead of us
Fastned therefore opened the UK's largest fast charging station in Oxford, England, together with other e-mobility companies last year. The "Energy Superhub" is attached to a 10-megawatt cable and initially offers 26 quick charging stations from various operators with up to 300 kW of power, which in extreme cases should allow a range of 400 kilometers to be recharged in 20 minutes. In the meantime, the driver could have a coffee at the affiliated restaurant, use the toilet or surf the free WLAN.
There are already comparable systems in Germany, for example the Seed & Greet fast charging park at the Hildener Kreuz Autobahn 2020 junction since 3. The initiator is the regionally well-known baker Roland Schüren, who early on opted for e-cars in his company fleet and his own with charging stations quickly turned the sales operation into a point of contact for the initially small but rapidly growing e-driver scene. On the edge of the large north-south highway, he is now taking the concept to the next level: in the future, the system will offer 40 Tesla superchargers, 22 Fastned columns and 52 AC charging points.
A snack bar operated by the baker, which offers drinks and rolls as well as freshly baked pizza, provides culinary supplies. Later, an office building and a vertical greenhouse will also be built on the site. Lettuce, strawberries and blueberries are grown there on 1.000 square meters over four floors for the needs of the bakery.
Safety first
The filling station concept for charging station parks is not only popular in Europe. The VW subsidiary Electrify America is currently building a network of systems in the USA as a fine for diesel fraud, which are also based on the classic gas station layout and design, but should offer more quality of stay. A roof made of solar cells protects against the weather, light and cameras against criminals and the waiting time can be bridged with a coffee. Unlike in many places in Germany, the parks are in the cities, often in the vicinity of shopping malls.
If you don't want to plug in your car yourself before you go shopping, you can leave it to one of the popular valet services in the USA. In order to be as independent as possible from the local power grid, VW uses battery storage as a buffer that enables high charging capacities.
The buffer idea has also been taken up by subsidiary Audi for the European market. In the brand's new "Charging Hubs" - the first opened in Nuremberg at the end of 2021 - used lithium-ion batteries from test vehicles are used, which store energy from the public grid and from solar cells on the roof, so to speak, compressed and in large Dispense portions quickly to the refueling vehicles. Audi is also testing a possible future option for battery recycling, an expensive task that the industry will have to pay for in the future, according to the will of the legislator. The so-called "Second Life" - the second life - as stationary storage could be an attractive option.
Audi has its own luxury lounge
The cube-shaped facilities in the style of the brand's car dealerships are deliberately exclusively designed and furnished. "This should not only offer a solution for future peak demands, but also make charging an actively used lifetime," says project manager Ralph Hollmig. However, the large Audi lounge with balcony, sofas and work area is only accessible to those who arrive in an Ingolstadt car. If you want to use the fast charger with a third-party product, you only have a small, sparse room with snack and coffee machines, a hard bench and access to the toilet.
Modern customer loyalty - copied from the business lounges at the airport. How many such systems Audi wants to afford is still uncertain. Only a second station in Zurich has been announced so far.
The business lounge instead of petrol station approach could catch on. Manufacturers of more exclusive e-cars such as Porsche and Tesla already rely on their own charging station networks, which in principle could also be expanded into brand beacons with exclusive lounge access.
Electricity doesn't bring money
The fact that charging station operators are looking for attractive surroundings for their systems has nothing to do with customer care, but also with the difficult electricity business. "In the foreseeable future, there will be no money to be made simply by selling traction current," analyzes e-mobility expert Alexander Krug from the management consultancy Arthur D. Little. According to this, most of the electricity tank sites only become attractive in connection with overarching business models. Be it as in the case of the charging parks through gastronomy and other fee-based services.
Or by combining it with new car sales, as at Audi, or with other products and services, such as offering photovoltaic and energy system solutions for private users and business customers. The charging station then becomes a kind of showroom – with an associated electricity sale.
As promising as such business models are, the architecture has so far been conservative. Mainly because it is still based on the classic gas station architecture for good reasons. However, that will change. A Canadian design competition with international participants recently tried to fathom what the charging parks of the future could look like. The winner was the Scottish design "More with less", a modular, oval wooden building with a slight Sixties flair that houses coffee shops, shops and showers. Attached are playgrounds, art exhibitions, barbecue areas and a kind of Zen garden for relaxation. The quality of stay there should then probably be right for the last time.