Expanding the charging network is an important step towards making electric driving more attractive. Audi is therefore considering installing its own charging stations.
None other than Audi CEO Markus Duesmann says Audi is seriously considering this. In conversation with Handelsblatt the German explains the idea. According to him, it is important that there are more public charging options in urban areas and one of the options to make this the case for Audi drivers, according to him, is to set up their own network. “We don’t want our car sales to fail due to a shortage of charging points,” said Duesmann. “That is why we are looking at whether we can set up our own charging infrastructure in large cities.” It would concern 200 to 300 fast charging points in cities.
Audi is currently already benefiting from Ionity’s charging points, in which it has an interest together with brands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and Ford. Sister brands Volkswagen and Porsche are also hooking up on this. Still, according to Duesmann, it is still a stumbling block that such charging points can mainly be found along motorways. According to the CEO, people are now looking at the possibilities of deploying more on urban charging points together with Ionity, but otherwise, according to him, a private network is also an option. Duesmann indicates that this may also be available for Porsche, as another ‘premium brand’ from the same stable. Handelsblatt report that Audi may want to allocate € 1 billion for this.