Prague installing electric charging points into smart street lamps
The number of electric vehicles in Czechia is growing and according to official estimates their number could reach 100,000 by 2030. Most of them will be in the capital city. Prague has therefore decided to increase the number of charging stations available. Drivers will find them, among other places, in the smart lampposts lining the streets of Prague’s Vinohrady district.
The electric chargers are built into selected city lamps, to prevent new installations cramming sidewalks. Drivers should look for a black box with cables and pictograms explaining how to use the station. Most of the stations allow two vehicles to be charged at the same time, and a total of 13 new chargers have now been installed in Prague’s Vinohrady district.
Until the end of the year, Prague residents can charge their cars for free without registration, they just need to connect the cable. As of next year, it will be possible to charge in two ways. The first is a one-time recharge without registration via a QR code, the second is via registration, where drivers get a recharge chip. Tomáš Jílek, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Prague Technologies explains.
"Through registration there is an invoice billing, and you can choose the payment method you prefer. The advantage of being a registered customer means a lower price when charging, but also affordable customer service. "
Drivers will now find charging stations not only in Moravská Street, but also in Korunní, Chodská, Kladská and Slezská. In the coming year they will be installed in other Prague districts as well.
Meanwhile efforts to create a dense and reliable charging network around the country continue with the three largest operators - ČEZ, Pražská energetika and E.ON - which account for about two thirds of the domestic network, currently reporting a total of 1,266 charging stations with a total of 2,462 charging points. Statistics from the Transport Research Centre show that the number of stations has been steadily increasing at a rate of about 300 per year for the last three years. Compared to 2020, the number of chargers for electric vehicles is now almost double.
The fact that the share of electric vehicles in relation to conventional car types is still low in this country, presently works in favour of those drivers who own electric vehicles.
According to CEZ Group, there are 22 charging stations per 100 electric vehicles in the Czech Republic, while the EU average is 15. The share of fast and ultra-fast charging stations in the Czech Republic is 57%, compared to the European average of 9%.
Drivers are also benefitting from more convenient ways of payment in electromobility, where it is no longer necessary to have several different chips to draw energy from each supplier separately, as was the case until recently. For example, the Axigon purchasing alliance provides an Energocard accepted domestically at ČEZ, PRE and E.ON charging stations and simultaneously in the SMATRICS network in Austria, EnBW in Germany and Ionity throughout Europe.
