Swiss charging station built to include trucks

In Switzerland, a project by the Swiss company GOFAST not only offers fast charging for cars and vans but also charging for 40-tonne electric trucks. The fast-charging station on the Oftringen Ost motorway service area on the A1 recently opened with a total of eight high-performance charging points for electric vehicles.

The charging park is located at what GOFAST calls a “formerly inconspicuous motorway service area” along the route between Solothurn and Lenzburg. The charging station stands out not only because of its “drive-through” concept, which also allows charging for the aforementioned electric trucks or trailers but also because of its five-metre-high roof.

This not only makes the station easily identifiable and offers weather protection, but also catches power. According to GOFAST, a photovoltaic system with 40 kWp is installed on the roof area, which measures around 160 square metres. This should be able to generate up to 40,000 kWh of solar power per year.

Four charging columns are installed under the roof that allow up to eight vehicles to charge simultaneously. The charging power is up to 150 kW. The columns not only have CCS cables but are “equipped with all common plug types”.

GOFAST says that the project did not only focus on the amount of charging power but also on the inclusive drive-through concept. “When designing the system, we took into account that in the next few years, more and more larger commercial electric vehicles will also be on the road, ranging from normal delivery vans to 18-metre trucks,” says CEO Domenic Lanz. In the near future, Lanz assumes that electric cars with trailers will charge there more frequently than heavy electric semitrailers.

The project is part of the Swiss federal government’s electromobility roadmap, in which a total of 100 rest areas on the national road network are to be equipped with fast-charging parks by 2030. According to GOFAST, it operates eight locations with a total of 26 charging points on the approximately 60-kilometre stretch of motorway between Solothurn and Lenzburg.

gofast.swiss (in German)