Ford installs 750 charging stations on its Cologne factory premises in Niehl and Merkenich.
In parallel to the market launch of the Ford Kuga Plug-In Hybrid, the car manufacturer is increasing the available charging options, not only within the factory, but also at a later date in the parking spaces outside the factory premises.
In a first phase, 328 charging stations will be built within the plant by the end of this year at the latest, to enable charging for the company’s own fleet and, above all, to test the administrative charging management. The focus is on regulating access and duration as well as controlling a potential payment system.
Ford opted for “intelligent” wall boxes so that “smart charging” can be used and the charging station, vehicle and user can communicate with each other using an app, for example the FordPass app. After a successful test, Ford’s own charging infrastructure is gradually expanded to the adjacent external parking areas, so that in addition to the visitors, the entire workforce has access to the 11kW AC charging points.
Charging in the workplace will be tax-exempt until 2030, which means that employees do not have to pay tax on a benefit in kind. Since all charging stations comply with legal requirements, the display shows the charged kilowatt hours directly.
The construction of this charging infrastructure is part of a Europe-wide Ford project, which will be followed by the construction of a charging infrastructure at the German locations in Aachen and Saarlouis as well as at the Ford locations in England, Belgium, Romania and Spain. In total, the automobile manufacturer will build around 1,000 charging stations in its European plants by 2023.
