EV Charging Stations to be 44 by Year’s End
The locations of ON's EV charging stations. Map/ON
ON Power, Orka náttúrunnar, plans to have 44 electric vehicle rapid-charging stations in use in Iceland by the end of the year, Morgunblaðið reports. Next year, another 13 will be added at eight locations, bringing the total number to 57.
The company installed the first EV charging station by its headquarters in 2014. That year, another eight stations were installed – most of them in the capital area.
Since then, more advanced charging stations have been introduced, with more chargers at each station. The older type of charging station was only able to charge one vehicle at at time, whereas the new type can charge two vehicles at once, each one getting up to 75 kW.
From Varmahlíð, North Iceland. Photo/ON
“These new stations are revolutionary for electric car owners,” states Hafrún Þorvaldsdóttir, project manager for ON, “because charging takes such a short time.”
The new charging stations will offer two CSS connectors and one CHAdeMO connector.
Year by year, ON has added more charging stations: one in 2015, three in 2016, 12 in 2017 and 16 in 2018. Four were added last year, and a total of six this year, five of which are already in use.
By developing this infrastructure of charging stations, the goal is to be at the forefront when it comes to energy switching in transport in Iceland, Hafrún states. The stations are located close enough to one another to make it possible for vehicles with a limited range to drive as widely throughout the country as possible.
The plan, she states, is to replace older stations with new ones. Outside the capital area, the EV charging stations are mainly located on the Ring Road.
Hafrún states that the number of fully electric cars increased from 3,737 in December of last year to 6,195 in December this year, or by 66 percent. During the same period, the number of plug-in hybrids increased from 7,712 to 10,001, or by 30 percent.
