Seven EV charging technologies for testing in Europe

Groupe Renault is coordinating an initiative called the INCIT-EV project which is designed to encourage the development of electromobility in Europe through field experiments.

About seven innovative charging technologies for EVs will be tested in selected European locations over 48 months from January 2020 to December 2023.

The project is supported by the European Commission as part of a call for proposals within the European Horizon 2020 programme.

Groupe Renault took the commission’s call for new projects as an opportunity to create a consortium comprising 32 leading industrial companies, universities, institutes, cities, start-ups, and small to medium enterprises (SMEs).

The project’s first phase involves analysing user needs and requirements, followed in April 2020 by an assessment of charging technologies and their integration into infrastructures.

Phase 2 will focus on the seven tech demonstrations and will run from the second half of 2022 to the end of the project.

The demonstrations include a dynamic induction charging system for the urban environment in Paris, high voltage charging systems in Tallinn, Estonia; optimised bidirectional smart charging in Amsterdam and Utrecht, a dynamic induction charging system in peri-urban/long-range areas in Versailles, a charging hub in a car-share vehicles carpark in Turin, and a low voltage bidirectional charging (including two-wheeled vehicles) and dynamic charging in taxi lanes at the airport and central station in Zaragoza.

This customer-centric approach will help build a new ecosystem and develop technological charging solutions that could be rolled out Europe-wide to foster and encourage electric mobility, Groupe Renault says.

“The INCIT-EV project we launched is a large demonstration of user-centric urban and long-range charging solutions to boost an engaging deployment of electric vehicles in Europe,” Groupe Renault’s research department EV charging systems project manager Xavier Serrier says.