Pilsen is one step closer to sustainable mobility after the local authorities inaugurated its first charging station for electric vehicles. It is operational since 25 September and free for the users of the Pilsen Zoological and Botanical Gardens parking lot, as announced by the Czech city authorities.
Driving an electric vehicle in Pilsen becomes more convenient
The First Deputy Mayor Roman Zarzycký and the Councillor for Smart Cities and Business Support Vlastimil Gola took part in the ceremonial opening of the first local public charging station for electric cars. It is located in the parking lot at the main entrance of the zoological and botanical garden and is free to use.
Drivers should only pay the 50 crowns (1.85 euros) fee for using the parking lot. The station will be operational during the zoo working hours.
The Mayor of Pilsen, Martin Baxa, explained for the municipal news portal that the opening of the charging terminals is in line with an earlier study on electromobility carried out by the city. The study was tasked with answering the question of whether such stations are needed at all and if so, what their type and locations should be.
In this way, it was decided to launch the so-called slow-charging stations. The chosen location was preferred to others based on expert recommendations taking into account factors such as the convenience, reserved power input, feasibility and time intensity.
The Zoological and Botanical Garden of the City of Pilsen has proven to be the most suitable place because, among other things, it counts with sufficient and available power. Moreover, it was considered that since the parking spaces are directly in front of the zoo box office that would also facilitate the promotion of the event.
Visitors to the Pilsen Zoological and Botanical Garden who drive electric cars can now enjoy free charging. Photo: City of Pilsen
The new station is of the Alfen EVE double Pro-line type and allows the simultaneous charging of two vehicles. It has a slow charging capacity of up to 22 kW.
The driver only needs to connect their electric car using their own cable and charging will start automatically. It is necessary for the car to have a Mennekes Type 2 connection, which is the case with most contemporary vehicles.
The charging point was realized by Nimble Energy and cost about 181 000 Czech crowns (or around 6670 euros). It includes software that monitors usage and consumption and allows to remotely change settings, monitor the load or make charging statistics. To serve the needs of e-vehicle drivers, the city has also separated two parking spaces for electric cars at the Zoological garden.
The estimates are that around 60 cars per month will use the first stations and their number will increase in the upcoming years. “Now the city is solving the concept of construction and operation of other stations so that citizens and visitors to the city can comfortably charge their electric cars,” concluded the mayor.
Source: TheMayor.EU
