Germany: E.On opens TestingLab to manufacturers
Overall, the energy company tests and researches charging solutions and their intelligent integration into the energy system at the new site. According to the Group, more than 25 test stations and five climate chambers cover around 10,000 square metres for testing vehicles, different charging stations, wall boxes and accessories.
The lab’s climate chambers alone can simulate global temperatures, from freezing cold to extreme heat. E.On specifies temperature ranges between minus 40 and plus 50 degrees Celsius and says the lab would spare customers from carrying out “time-consuming and costly tests in real environments”.
Speaking of customers, the energy group targets OEM or charging solutions manufacturers wanting to increase R&D efforts and says it will also offer training in installation and maintenance at the test centre.
Moreover, the focus on heavy-duty applications is unique at the E.On TestingLab. The company claims it is the only facility in Europe where fast charging in heavy-duty vehicles can be tested with up to three megawatts of power.
“Fast charging for trucks is crucial for electrifying road freight transport and making it climate-neutral,” adds Davide Villa, CEO of E.ON Drive, who expects to see a lot of technological innovation in this area. “We can easily test new high-capacity truck charging stations with up to three megawatts of power on-site. We are therefore well prepared for future developments with ever higher charging capacities.”
Yet trucks are not everything. E.On also cites the ongoing expansion of public and private charging infrastructure in Germany and Europe as a critical reason for setting up its test and innovation centre. “With the increasing number and variety of vehicle models and charging solutions, interoperability between different systems is becoming an ever-greater challenge,” the company says. On top of that, the industry has to cope with the increasing complexity of charging solutions, ranging from fast charging for electric cars and trucks to bi-directional charging, e.g. for vehicle-to-home applications.
“That’s why another focus of our new site is to optimize the interoperability and reliability of the charging infrastructure,” adds Davide Villa.
This also goes for the Group’s solutions. The company targets installing 1,000 high-power charging points in its European markets each year. In Germany, E.On reportedly scored federal funding for 1,200 charge points as part of the national network Deutschlandnetz. According to the Essen-based company, this will make it “one of the largest operators of the nationwide fast-charging network”.
In addition, there is the charging infrastructure that E.ON is building for clients. The company claims it sold over 20,000 charging points to private and business customers across Europe in 2022 alone.
The E.On TestingLab is “where we try out, test and optimize for everyday use by businesses and private customers,” adds Villa. “The aim is to make electromobility possible on a broad scale and make it suitable for practical use.”
At the opening this week, E.ON Board Member Patrick Lammers also claimed this broader context: “Energy transition, clean transport, climate protection – all this will only succeed if electromobility gains even more momentum.” He added that the new test and innovation centre creates the “necessary capacity to meet the growing demand for charging infrastructure. As a result, we are ideally positioned for the dynamic market development of electric mobility.”
E.On has multiple partners, including the BMW subsidiary Alphabet or Mercedes. The company also operates over 36,000 public charge points and 3,000 ultra-rapid charging stations available via its app. By 2026, E.On plans to own 5,000 new high-power charge points, expand existing locations, and construct new hubs for public charging.
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