Ubitricity helps Charge your EV by Connecting to Street Side Lamp Posts
European oil majors have dismissed electric vehicles and charging in the past, but have now come to embrace the new reality.
TotalEnergies, BP, and Shell have been acquiring EV charging startups to meet the needs of the growing number of EVs. Shell plans to become a net-zero-emissions company by 2050 and one of its tools to reach that is Ubitricity, which it acquired in 2021. Ubitricity stands for Ubiquitous Electricity, and it plans to do just that: make EV charging accessible and available everywhere. It was established in 2008 and is based in Berlin’s European Energy Forum campus.
Making EV Charging Ubiquitous
Ubitricity is known for its compact size chargers that are integrated into lamp posts. Since its acquisition it has expanded to several European countries like the UK and France and claims to be the largest charging network in the UK holding a 13% market share in 2021. One of its chargers, “Heinz”, was developed specifically for Germany, a country that has one of the largest barriers to home charging in Europe. Many Germans don’t have access to home-charging, due to living in city apartment blocks that only allot streetside parking for residents. Thus, for 45% of Germany’s population, there is no possibility or even set place for car owners to install charging systems.
Addressing Urban EV Charging Challenges
Ubitricity offers residents in urban areas and apartment dwellers without parking garages access to public charging. While many companies have been developing chargers in the form of wall boxes and charging columns, Ubitricity’s chargers can be installed in lamp posts in 30 minutes without the need for construction work. Its chargers are used for overnight or workplace charging due to its low capacity of 3.7 kW.
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Because 60% of residents in Berlin do not have a private parking space, Ubitricity chargers use existing infrastructure in streetlamps supplied with electricity by Shell Energy Retail GmbH’s renewable energies. In 2021, the city of Berlin awarded the company a public tender for 200 lamp post chargers. The federal government has provided it funding as part of the “Clean Air” project. The project has already applied for an extension and if it is approved by the State of Berlin, 800 more lantern chargers will be installed. Ubitricity plans to install over 200,000 charge points across Europe in the next five years.
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Related: Wiferion: the Future of Wireless Charging
