- The 50 kW Fast Recharge station was installed along the Turin-Milan A4 motorway, at Q8’s Rho Sud service area, and is the first of five charging stations that will be installed at other Q8 service areas
- EVA+ is the electric mobility project coordinated by Enel, with the participation of Verbund, Renault, Nissan, BMW Group and Volkswagen Group Italia (represented by Volkswagen and Audi) and co-financed by the European Commission
Rome, December 18th, 2018 - Electric mobility has arrived on the motorway. Enel X installed and activated at Q8’s Rho Sud service area the first charging station on the Italian motorway network. Following the signing of the agreement between Enel X and Q8, drivers can travel between Turin and Milan with their electric cars without having to exit the motorway to recharge their vehicles.
The agreement also provides for the installation of four additional 50kW JuicePump (Fast Recharge) charging stations at as many Q8 service stations. In addition to the one installed in Rho Sud, a station has also been activated at the Q8 service station in Viale Alcide De Gasperi in Milan. The others will be installed and activated in the next few months at the service stations of Marcon (Venice), Carugate and Cinisello Balsamo (Milan).
“The agreement with Q8 enables us to achieve a key and long-awaited result in the implementation of the national charging infrastructure plan and the diffusion of electric mobility in Italy. Thanks to this agreement, we will finally have a charging infrastructure on the motorway network that is fully integrated and interoperable with the stations that we are installing throughout the country,” said Francesco Venturini, Head of Enel X. “Anyone driving an electric car can use the same charging procedures, with the same contractual conditions, at all other charging infrastructures. Our commitment to the challenge to make electric mobility a reality not just for a few enthusiasts but for everyone continues.”
“The installation of these electric charging points in collaboration with Enel X is testimony to Q8’s vision of sustainable mobility achieved through innovation, which has always been at the heart of the Q8 strategy,” said Alessandro Lietti, Director of Business Development at Kuwait Petroleum Italia SpA. “Among other things, the strategy is taking shape in the form of a major investment plan to ensure the supply of both electric vehicles and vehicles powered by alternative fuels on our distribution network to meet the diversified needs of our customers at the highest level of quality.”
With EVA+, the first charging network is already active, enabling the use of electric vehicles outside the city. To date, the EVA+ network already has 100 Fast Recharge stations in operation, a number that will rise to a total of 200 by mid-2019, of which 180 in Italy and another 20 in Austria. The programme, which is co-financed by the European Commission as part of the “Connecting Europe Facility”, involves Enel, as coordinator, and Verbund (the main Austrian utility), together with some of the leading manufacturers of electric vehicles in the world, such as Renault, Nissan, BMW Group and Volkswagen Group Italia (represented by the Volkswagen and Audi brands).