Fortum and Renault have entered into a cooperation agreement regarding charging infrastructure in Norway, thus expanding the Charge & Drive network to around 500 smart charging stations in the Nordic countries in the coming nine months. By choosing Charge & Drive, the leading smart charging system, Renault will provide its customers with an easy and convenient solution for electric vehicles (EVs). Every Renault ZOE also comes with a 12-month charge-for-free offer.
“The fact that Renault along with other top-tier automakers and businesses choose to cooperate with Fortum in the Norwegian market is the best testimonial for our Charge & Drive platform. We are dedicated to making it easy and convenient to charge electric vehicles. With this new cooperation agreement, we are pleased to be providing EV drivers and businesses with even more public chargers,” says Jan Haugen Ihle, Country Manager for Fortum Charge & Drive Norway.
The agreement covers 100 charging stations, of which the majority will be 22-kW fast chargers to be placed in strategic and relevant locations. Fortum will be responsible for the customer offerings, system solutions, installation and servicing of the chargers.
“We were interested in finding a partner who had a clear idea about how a network of fast chargers could be established and operated to support Renault’s strategy,” says Anders Gadsbøll, Managing Director, Renault Norway. “Fortum Charge & Drive has a high professional standard, is highly recognised in the business, and could add their existing network of 22-kW fast chargers to the offer, so the choice was easy.”
Backed by more than ten years’ experience in developing charging solutions for electric vehicles, Fortum’s Charge & Drive is today the market’s leading business system for charging station operations. It is a platform that is offered as a service for any operator wanting to expand step-by-step with its “pay as you grow” business model.
“Charge & Drive helps anyone who wants to offer charging services by getting their stations connected to a platform with access to all the functionalities that we offer for the highly competitive Norwegian EV market. You start with the basic functionalities and later add more advanced services when needed,” says Markus Hökfelt, Head of Fortum Charge & Drive Nordic.
The Charge & Drive network is operating in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Today 75 rapid chargers connect the Norwegian capital and by the second quarter of next year the network will consist of more than 145 stations. In total, the network in the Nordic countries is growing from around 250 to 500 connected smart chargers by the second quarter of 2015.