PIANA DI VIGEZZO, Piedmont, Italy--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:
Charging your electric or plug-in hybrid car at home is no longer a problem. With the Easy Wallbox™, created by ENGIE Eps (Paris:EPS) exclusively for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, you can immediately recharge the new car as you drive out of a dealership, with no changes to your electrical system. The new ENGIE Eps charging device is plug-and-play – just like any household appliance – and is immediately functional: an essential requirement for the spreading of vehicle electrification at home.
To showcase the new device and its no-fuss installation and use, FCA and ENGIE Eps have taken a Jeep Renegade 4xe and an Easy Wallbox™ to a location where one would not expect to see an electric car and its charging system: the beautiful alpine scenery of the Piana di Vigezzo (in the Vigezzo Valley, Northern Italy) at an altitude of almost 1.800 meters. This is the arrival station of Europe's longest continuous cable car, which will soon be powered by ‘green energy’, thanks to ENGIE Eps.
After an effortless climb and descent of a steep snow-clad slope in electric mode, the Jeep Renegade 4xe was connected to an Easy Wallbox™, installed for the event next to the ski lift station, with a breathtaking panorama of the Alps.
Carlalberto Guglielminotti, CEO of ENGIE Eps, said during a press conference to present the device: “We want to demonstrate that no obstacle is too much for the Jeep and that it can be fully recharged using the Easy Wallbox™ technology, even at high altitude, in a mountain refuge and at sub-zero temperatures”.
Easy Wallbox™ can operate plug-and-play via a standard Schuko socket up to 2.2 kW. Moreover, with a dedicated power line the Easy Wallbox™ can operate at up to 7.4 kW: to recharge your car faster without the need to purchase another device.
The Easy Wallbox™ is installed with two wall plugs, easily connects to the electricity grid and means you can recharge the car's batteries without exceeding your power contract or regulatory limits. In addition, with an electrician only needing to perform a non-invasive intervention, the device uses only the power available in your home in real-time, avoiding any risk of blackouts.
"Easy Wallbox™ – continued Guglielminotti – has been patented by ENGIE Eps, exclusively for FCA.
The product was designed and is manufactured entirely in Italy. It is the only wallbox that up to 2.2kW does not need to be set up by an installer or electrician. It is the result of the work of around 100 engineers and researchers at ENGIE Eps, who, together with the Polytechnics of Turin and Milan, have for over 15 years been helping Italian technology achieve excellence that is renowned around the world.
Dating back to 2017, the partnership between ENGIE Eps and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles – whose e-Mobility strategy has always been underway in the EMEA region for several months– is aimed at managing the changes in the best possible way and at coordinating all work related to electric mobility.
Roberto Di Stefano, Head of e-Mobility: “The journey we have embarked on does not consist only of vehicle electrification, but is a completely different way of looking at car use and mobility in general.”
A number of electric and hybrid models are coming soon: from the Fiat Panda and 500 Hybrid already on sale to the Jeep Renegade and Compass PHEV within the first half of the year, to the new 500 and the all-electric Ducato, which will come later. They are the first, fundamental move in a comprehensive, developed strategy, a new way of conceiving mobility that puts the environment at the center without losing sight of customers’ requirements.
“FCA has therefore begun – Di Stefano continued – to compose a true “ecosystem” of products and services, to meet the expectations of those who will use electric and electrified cars, so that the use of these cars becomes a widespread and well-established habit.”
The partnership with ENGIE Eps – emblematic of this new way of operating includes the construction at the FCA Mirafiori plant in Turin of both the largest experimental Vehicle to Grid (V2G) project in the world, as well as the “Solar Power Production Unit”, in collaboration ENGIE Italy.
“Thanks to V2G project – concluded Distefano – we are creating an asset which when completed will be comprised of 700 vehicles and which will be able to produce 25 MW of electric power and provide stabilization services to the electrical grid when the vehicles are not utilized. While the solar panels of the second project (installed over the 120 thousand square meters of roofs and covering 1,750 parking spaces of 30 thousands square meters) will produce 15 MW of electric power, contributing to the reduction for more than 5 thousand tons of CO2 per year and supplying sustainable energy for the charging of the electrical vehicles produced at Mirafiori”.
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About ENGIE EPS
ENGIE EPS is an industrial player within the ENGIE group that develops technologies to revolutionize the paradigm shift in the global energy system towards renewable energy sources and electric mobility. Listed on Euronext Paris (EPS:FP), ENGIE EPS is listed in the CAC® Mid & Small and the CAC® All-Tradable financial indices. Its registered office is in Paris and conducts its research, development and manufacturing in Italy.
For more information: www.engie-eps.com
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About FCA
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is a global automaker that designs, engineers, manufactures and sells vehicles in a portfolio of exciting brands, including Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, Ram and Maserati. It also sells parts and services under the Mopar name and operates in the components and production systems sectors under the Comau and Teksid brands. FCA employs nearly 200,000 people around the globe.