In Vienna, drivers are increasingly filling their vehicles with electricity instead of petrol or diesel. According to Wien Energie, which operates a charging station network on behalf of the city or is expanding it, 1.5 million kilowatt hours (kWh) were refueled from January to October. This corresponds to almost double the amount of the comparison period 2019 (780,000 kWh), as the company announced on Sunday by broadcast.
According to this, 15,100 electricity tanks were filled at the e-fuel pumps in October this year alone. In the same month of 2019 there were 7,800 charges. “In Vienna, more and more electricity is being drawn. That means more and more e-drivers from Vienna and the surrounding area are filling up at more and more e-charging points in the city. We are observing a positive interaction between the available infrastructure from Wien Energie and the increasing number of e-cars “, summarized managing director Michael Strebl.
The company is particularly pleased that the numbers have increased significantly despite the Corona “brake pads” in the form of two lockdowns. This was shown in the statistics. “Compared to mid-February to mid-March, the amount charged fell by almost two thirds from mid-March to mid-April. The second lockdown also shows its traces: while in October an average of 487 charges were charged a day, in November there were 428 charges “, it said in the broadcast.
Strebl emphasized that Wien Energie had set up 300 charging points this year despite the pandemic and the associated “adverse circumstances”. By the end of December there were 950 public electricity pumps in Vienna. At the beginning of 2021, the remaining 50, which are necessary for the completion of the supply plan, which was originally aimed at 1,000 charging points, will follow, the company informed. The managing director announced that the charging infrastructure in the private sector and for mobility providers such as taxi and transport companies will be “whipped up” in the coming years.
