According to the Federal Association for Electric Mobility, there are around 214,500 purely electrically powered cars on Austria’s roads. There are also hybrid models, electric trucks and electric buses. And they all have one thing in common: they have to be loaded somewhere. For this to work, a well-developed and cleverly thought-out charging infrastructure is required. A prime example of this is LINZ AG in Upper Austria: together with Siemens and two retailers, customer parking spaces are being equipped with over 50 SICHARGE D charging systems with a capacity of 160 kW.

For customers, this means a fully charged fridge and a fully charged car – at the same time. The SICHARGE D takes around 30 to 40 minutes to charge an electric car, depending on its size, battery status and capacity. This is exactly the average time it takes to make a purchase.

The charging station supports voltages between 150 and 1,000 volts at all DC charging connections. It intelligently takes into account the power requirements of the individual vehicles and ensures an optimized charging time. With DC charging, the alternating current is converted into direct current within the charging station, so it can flow directly into the car battery without any detours – in contrast to AC charging, where the current is converted in the car itself. AC charging stations are mostly used in private households. The SICHARGE D also scores points with its flexible expansion options: the charging capacity can also be upgraded at a later date and additional charging points can be created using a dispenser. Aesthetes also get their money’s worth with the charging station: the traffic-white SICHARGE D used in Upper Austria has won the iF Design Award 2023, one of the most prestigious design prizes in the world.

© Siemens

SICHARGE D: It intelligently takes into account the power requirements of vehicles and ensures an optimized charging time.

REWE is also focusing on electromobility: three new e-trucks have been on the road in the inner city area of Vienna since the beginning of the year, delivering goods to BILLA, BIPA and PENNY stores. Efficient charging and deployment management enables continuous operation in two shifts of eight to ten hours each. Charging management is supported by the cloud-based DepotFinity software, which is ideal for managing charging operations. The three e-trucks in the REWE fleet are also charged with a SICHARGE D, in this case with a charging capacity of 240 kW. Up to four electric vehicles can be charged simultaneously using the dispenser supplied. Compared to conventional, diesel-powered trucks, each e-truck saves around 28 tons of CO₂ equivalents per year, or a total of around 84 tons at REWE.

The company neoom is also committed to reducing CO₂ and sustainability. And on a literally gigantic scale: together with partners and customers, neoom aims to save one gigaton of CO₂ equivalents. The Upper Austrian company, which has offices in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, offers innovative, decentralized, renewable energy solutions. With its smart products and intelligent algorithms, neoom addresses private households, commercial customers and energy suppliers alike, establishes energy communities and supports solar installers and installation partners at the same time.

The SICHARGE D is also in use at two of neoom’s commercial customers. In Wartberg ob der Aist in Upper Austria at the Ortner car dealership and in Germany at the Wolff Energy Group, there are a total of 14 fast-charging stations in various designs. The charging capacities of the models supplied range from 160 to 400 kW. Since December 2024, PV systems at Wolff Energy Group sites have been feeding solar power into neoom’s battery storage systems, a significant step towards neoom’s motto, “Infinite Power for all of us”. There, it is then available for the electric vehicles in the company’s fleet via the SICHARGE D fast-charging stations that have already been installed. The Wolff Energy Group is thus sending out an important signal – because electric cars are only as green in operation as the electricity they run on.