Free electricity for electric and hybrid cars in Croatia will be discontinued later this year, as owners of electric vehicle charging stations move towards charging for their services, reports Jutarnji List on May 7, 2019.

According to available data, Croatia currently has charging stations at 272 locations with 693 connections. The HEP public company, which has 65 fast-charging stations throughout Croatia, has announced the start of charging by the end of the year. “Charging is free for now, but it will not stay that way, because electricity is not free to the service providers. We are currently considering various options for charging,” HEP says.

The most significant number of public charging stations is managed by the Croatian Telecom (HT); they operate 125 stations with 170 connections. The HT explained that they are a service provider, but they are not the owner. They just set up and manage the stations for individual investors, owners of particular locations. For now, there are seven stations set up by the HT which charge for its services. Depending on the payment method, the price is between 1.06 to 1.13 kuna per minute. The HT explains that it is up to the investor to decide whether they will charge for the service or offer it free of charge.

Far behind HEP and HT is the Hungarian MOL, which has just launched this service in Croatia. The Tifon company, which is part of MOL, is the first in Croatia to open charging stations on one of the Croatian motorways. They have opened two stations on the Rijeka - Zagreb highway and will start charging from May 16. Slow charging (AC) will cost 54.90 kuna, and quick charging (DC) 74.90 kuna. Tifon argues that "charging is necessary to cover operating costs, such as the cost of installation, maintenance, employees, electricity, IT system." Tifon should open two more charging stations by the end of the month, this time on the Zagreb - Split motorway, which should at least partially solve the problems for foreign tourists coming to Croatia with electric or hybrid cars.

The electric vehicle charging service is relatively new in Croatia, and it has been offered for free to promote e-mobility. Since the installation of stations has often been financed from the EU funds, the cost for the owner was not too high. But the cost of electricity used by drivers has been paid by the operators, and that will now change.

According to the latest data, there are 459 electric and 3,717 hybrid cars registered in Croatia. Their number is quite small, which is also indicated by the number of charging operations at public stations. HEP says that, depending on the location, the number of charging operations ranges from one to 500 per month per station. HT has between 1 and 25 a day, and since 2015, when they launched the project, they have recorded more than 50,000 charging operations. However, the daily numbers increase dramatically during the summer months, with the arrival of foreign tourists.

More news about electric vehicles in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

Translated from Jutarnji List (reported by Krešimir Žabec).

Tifon, a member of MOL Group, opened a fast charging station for electric vehicles at its retail location Draganić North. At the same time, similar fast charging stations were also opened at the Draganić South and Ravna Gora stations. These are the first stations for fast charging of electric vehicles on Croatian motorways connecting the Zagreb-Rijeka route and the first in a series of stations that will connect Zagreb and Split ahead of the tourist season, reports Večernji List on April 18, 2019.

Tifon will be one of the first participants in the Croatian energy market to offer tourists an unhindered and considerably simpler trip with their electric vehicles this season. By the end of May, Tifon will open fast charging stations at its retail locations in Dobra and Jasenice. These devices are part of the NEXT-E project, co-financed by the European Union programme called the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), in which Tifon participates as a member of MOL Group.

MOL Group has the most accessible network of stations in central and eastern Europe. Three years ago, the company adopted the MOL 2030 strategy, whose vision defines the company's core business orientation in the upcoming period. Thanks to the NEXT-E project, MOL Group can better meet customer demand and expand its network.

The MOL Plugee fast charging station for electric vehicles was officially opened by Tifon's CEO Siniša Komnenović. “At four retail location in Zagreb, Tifon offers to electric vehicle owners a fast-charging service, and we first brought similar stations to the key Croatian transport corridors, the A1 and A6 motorways. That is part of our development strategy as a member of a consortium involved in the NEXT-E project, but also part of our intention to provide top quality to users by following global trends, particularly in the field of environmental protection. Since the beginning of this year, we have been asked by our customers from all over Europe to connect the Croatian coast and inland areas with charging stations for electric vehicles, which is why we are extremely proud of what we have achieved today. This is a major event for Croatian tourism and the economy as a whole, a big step forward in responsible and efficient energy management and reduction of CO2 emissions, which Tifon, as a responsible company, strives to do,” said Komnenović.

The stations support all relevant charging standards (AC and DC), enabling charging of different types of electric vehicles in 2 to 3 hours with AC charging, or in 30 minutes with DC charging. The use of the stations will be free of charge during the initial month (until May 16), after which standard (AC) charging will cost 54.90 kuna per session, and fast charging (DC) 74.90 kuna per session.

Translated from Večernji List.

More news about electric vehicles in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

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