Volkswagen (VW) has become the latest car manufacturer to invest in electric vehicle charging platform Hubject.
VW has been welcomed to the project by its founding shareholders BMW, Bosch, Daimler, EnBW, innogy and Siemens to become the seventh shareholder in Hubject, established to connect EV charging stations to a wider ‘eMobility’ platform.
Hubject’s aim is to provide drivers of electric vehicles with easier access to charging stations and payment solutions. Nearly 40,000 charge points across the world are connected to the Hubject platform, including isolated stations which were brought inline as part of a 2013 project dubbed ‘interchange’.
Hubject said that by joining it, Volkswagen was “emphasizing its commitment” to making EV charging infrastructure more “mass-market”.
“We have set our sights on becoming a globally leading provider in the field of sustainable mobility. With our investment in Hubject we are supporting the digital transformation and making an important contribution to the transition to the era of e-mobility,” Thomas Sedran, head of group strategy at Volkswagen AG, said.
Meanwhile Hubject CEO Thomas Daiber said that charging must become “more customer-friendly” if the adoption of EVs is to accelerate further.
“Together with [Volkswagen] we will be working at top speed to push forward with interconnecting the charging infrastructure,” he added.
The emissions scandal that Volkswagen has been embroiled in continues to rumble on, with the latest developments involving the possibility of the manufacturer making substantial payments to the UK government.
However VW maintains an increasing interest in electric vehicles and intends to release 30 new EV models by 2025.
Its participation in the Hubject programme comes amidst a number of moves from other car manufacturers to develop smarter, more interconnected EV charging stations. Nissan has partnered with Enel to test a nascent ‘vehicle to grid’ EV charging/battery storage system, while BMWi has a similar product that it intends to rollout to selected markets early next year.
