Fastned’s wind and solar powered electric vehicle charging network has already grown to the point EV owners can travel the Netherlands free from range anxiety.
We first mentioned Fastned back in 2014. At that point in time only 4 charging stations had been constructed in the country. According to current stats from the company, 51 fast-charging stations are now operational.
The service is proving popular – a report in July indicates the company experienced 256% revenue growth compared to the first half of 2015 and 7% month-to-month growth in the number of customers during the previous 6 months.
Electricity for Fastned’s chargers is 100% solar and wind. Electricity from solar panels on the rooftops of the charging stations is supplemented by energy produced by the Sternweg wind farm in Zeewolde.
All of Fastned’s charging stations are now equipped with Tesla Chademo adapters. This effectively doubled Fastned’s reach as nearly half of all full EVs in the Netherlands were Teslas as at the end of June. In March, there were around 5000 Tesla electric vehicles in the Netherlands.
The Fastned service supports all public fast charging standards – CCS (Combined Charging System), CHAdeMO and AC up to 43 kW. Using a CCS or CHAdeMO plug, drivers can generally charge from 0 to 80% in about 20 minutes. To help pass the time, free Wi-Fi is provided at each station.
Currently, the following electric vehicles can be charged:
- BMW i3
- BYD E6
- Citroën Berlingo Electric
- Citroën C-Zero
- Energica Ego & Eva
- Hyundai Ioniq
- Kia Soul EV
- Mercedes-Benz B-Klasse Electric Drive
- Mitsubishi i-MiEV
- Mitsubishi Outlander
- Nissan e-NV200 (Evalia)
- Nissan Leaf
- Peugeot iOn
- Renault ZOE
- Smart Electric Drive (22 kW charger)
- Tesla Model S
- Tesla Model X
- Volkswagen e-Golf
- Volkswagen e-up!
Fastned says its service has proved to be extremely reliable, with 99.99% uptime.
Gaining access to the system appears to be quite simple. EV owners download an app and sign up for a plan; providing their credit card details. After logging in, they are able to start charging. For those without a smartphone, an SMS service can be used to start and stop a charge session.
More info: Fastned web site (English version).
