E-cars actually work like giant smart phones, people from Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP Group, Croatian national electric company) told journalist Lucija Špiljak from poslovni.hr. They took her from the Croatian headquarters in Zagreb towards Brinje, where HEP presented 16 additional chargers for the e-cars which were financed by EU funds. The driver who took them to Brinje never drove an e-car before, but he was satisfied, and described it as solid and stable, adding that he'd happily replace his classic car with an electric car like that.
July 10th is symbolic because that's the day when we celebrate the National Nikola Tesla Day, the day of science, technology and innovations. On that day Croatia was put on the European map of electromobility and the Trans-European traffic network. The 16 new chargers were installed at rest-stops Ljubeščica, Vukova Gorica, Brinje and Lepenica Sjever, as well as entry/exit points to the highways in Goričan and Sesvetski Kraljevec, and in Vrbovsko, Čavle, Delnice and Fužine near A6 highway.
HEP Group is the leader in the Croatian energy transition and today there are around 70 public ELEN chargers. Their project eMobility aims to keep the Group in line with the energy strategy of the EU, with the basic idea that the electricity from the renewable sources is to be used to power the electric vehicles. The Directive proposes that by the end of 2020 the chargers for e-cars be available every 50 km of highways, in every inhabited place with over 20000 inhabitants as well as all major ports.
CEO of the HEP Group Frane Barbarić told journalists that the Norwegian tourists, which is a leader in the number of the e-cars, can get to Croatia fast and easily. And now it's also gotten possible to get from the borders with Slovenia and Hungary to the Adriatic without problems. We want to make sure our citizens as well as tourists can drive safely between destinations in Croatia, mr. Barbarić added. When all of those projects are finished, by the end of 2020, HEP's network will comprise more than 100 chargers, which will be worth more than 60 million kuna. He also announced major investment into wind turbines, after the HEP Group has already invested significantly into solar plants.
Domagoj Puzak, the leader of the eMobility team within HEP Group explained that the charger in Brinje is a fast charger, with the power of 50 kW. The charging lasts up to an hour, and the ultra-fast charging in the future will last 15 to 30 minutes. He added that all of the e-cars on the market can connect to one of the three kinds of adapters available at the charger.
