European fast charging network will install first 20 stations for cars this year

The European fast charging network of various car manufacturers announced last year will install its first 20 charging stations for electric cars this year. The network has been named Ionity and is due to be completed in 2020.

The companies behind the joint venture, BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler and Ford, have announced in a joint statement that the first charging stations will be installed along major roads in Germany, Austria and Norway with distances of 120 km between them. In the course of next year, the number of fast charging stations should increase to more than a hundred stations using the Combined Charging System connector. A station must be able to be used by several customers at the same time.

The carmakers already announced the plans last year, saying that the network should eventually be ready in 2020 and will include 400 charging stations by then. The companies are not disclosing where that station will be located and only state that negotiations are currently underway. The stations of Ionity supply 350kW per charging point. Tesla’s Superchargers currently deliver 145kW, although CEO Elon Musk said a year ago that chargers with more power than 350kW are coming.