Fortum Charge & Drive opened Finland’s first high-power charging station (HPC) at the Lohja ABC service station in collaboration with Suur-Seudun Osuuskauppa.
The charging station now opened is part of the high-power charging network Fortum is building between Helsinki, Turku, Stockholm and Oslo. Norway’s first high-power charging station was opened outside Oslo last April and Sweden’s at Kristinehamn in August. The high-power charging network enables the newest generation of electric vehicle models that have a range of over 300-kilometers to drive from Helsinki to Oslo in the same amount of time as gas-powered cars.
A high-power charging station charges three times faster than the current quick chargers. The 150-kW charging rate means it takes about 10 minutes to charge to a range of about 125 km. Some of the new electric vehicles can charge at a rate of 100 kW, so the charging network is a frontrunner also in this respect. In the future, the power and the gained range can be doubled when cars that can charge at rate of 300 kW come onto the markets. However, the high-power charging station now opened can be used by all kinds of EVs that can use also the current quick charging stations.
“Fortum Charge & Drive started its business in 2010 with the aim to build a high-power charging network between the Nordic capitals. As a frontrunner, now we are doing the same with the high-power charging stations. This means that drivers of the new generation EVs can take full advantage of long distance travelling,” says Sami Saarilahti from the Fortum Charge & Drive unit.
ABC and Fortum Charge & Drive are frontrunners in developing the EV charging network in Finland. The collaboration encompasses the quick charge capacity at 35 ABC service stations around the country. The network enables zero emissions electric motoring also on longer journeys and a quick charge while drivers take a break to enjoy lunch or a cup of coffee. Finland's first quick charging station was opened back in 2012 at an ABC service station in Nihtisilta, Espoo.
The Nordic Fortum Charge & Drive network already includes more than 2,000 charging stations, i.e. about 4,000 charging outlets. The network has some 700 fast chargers. Finland already has about 600 charging stations for EVs.