Massimo Nordio: why I do insist on ultrafast charging
The CEO of Volkswagen Group Italia shares some concrete examples of how HPC makes a difference to electric car users.
A lot of people ask me why I keep insisting, at every opportunity, on the importance of High Power Charging (HPC for short).
I believe that the best answer is to give concrete examples. I’ve already explained my point of view as a longstanding full-electric user, and I’ll say it again: for many, e-mobility is already a practical everyday option, but certain situations do require some planning.
With a greater, more widespread rollout of the HPC network those situations would fall away significantly, making the user experience ever simpler and more enjoyable.
Long distances
The most immediate example is long-distance travel: as things stand now, before leaving I need to factor in one or two stops to charge the battery, checking that there are charging points along my route. This isn’t particularly demanding according to my own experience (as you know, I regularly travel between Verona and Rome).
But clearly if HPC points were available in motorway service stations, I would no longer need to plan stops (and in most cases, exit the motorway to charge). I could also stop whenever I wanted.
If you can’t charge at home
Then there are the people who would like to buy an electric car but don’t - for a very simple and not at all trivial reason: they have no means of installing a wallbox or a charging point in their apartment building to allow them charging at home. This is the same situation I find myself in.
In these cases, the public charging network is the only option you have; but even quick or fast charging points still take quite a bit of time. With HPC, or ultrafast charging, charging times go down substantially and it’s a whole different story.
Last minute journeys
In another scenario, if I decided to go somewhere at the last minute but my battery was low, I’d have to wait a few hours before I could leave. HPC does away with this: in a few minutes I can recharge and get behind the wheel straight away.
One last observation: currently HPC costs more than domestic charging, but I’m sure that the joint efforts of all the players involved can bring to a smart and affordable solution in this field too.
Volkswagen Group Italia’s commitment is not just limited to offering zero-emission models – it goes beyond that. Collaborating in the Enel X Store opening in Rome is the first concrete step in that direction.
Massimo Nordio
CEO, Volkswagen Group Italia