Skip to main content

German municipalities prepare for electric cars

Verband kommunaler Unternehmen (VKU), the association of municipal companies in Germany, has announced that from 2012 more than 33 municipalities will set up a dense network of charging stations for electric cars.
January 31, 2012 Read time: 1 min
755 Verband kommunaler Unternehmen (VKU), the association of municipal companies in Germany, has announced that from 2012 more than 33 municipalities will set up a dense network of charging stations for electric cars. The municipalities involved are not only large cities such as Munich, Cologne or Leipzig but also smaller towns such as Unna and Borken. Customers will be able to use the charging stations with special cards and the electricity will be paid for via their normal electricity bill. VKU says the measure is not only to promote the use of electric cars but also to improve customer loyalty to the local electricity supplier.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Nottingham takes to e-ticketing
    November 23, 2012
    England’s least car dependent city, Nottingham, is to further develop its public transport system with integrated ticketing solutions from Germany-headquartered ITS provider INIT, which is to supply systems for the town’s bus and tram network. With more than 40 million customer journeys per year, Nottingham’s independent bus operator Trent Barton was already successfully using INIT’s integrated ticketing solution comprising of Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETM), validators and Mango smartcards. Passengers
  • India to invest in transportation to boost urban economies
    November 13, 2012
    Grand plans have been announced for transport investment in India aimed at boosting city economies. India’s Government Secretary for Urban Development Sudhir Krishna explains all to Jason Barnes. There are many reasons for developed countries’ high levels of urbanisation, not least of which is that the types of employment to be found in towns and cities tend to generate relatively greater wealth and so make greater contributions to a country’s economy. That creates the imperative for developing nations to f
  • Growth of smart parking initiatives
    April 25, 2013
    New initiatives in smart parking have been announced in the US and Europe in recent months. Is the age of smarter parking finally with us? Jon Masters investigates. Smart parking comes to Manchester, reads the headline to a story posted on the UK city’s website towards the end of March this year. Sensors will be fixed to parking spaces to give drivers and authorities information on parking availability via mobile phone apps and other software, the story goes on to explain. Lower down the page, Manchester Ci
  • Authorities switch on to all electric buses as costs tumble
    January 9, 2018
    Alan Dron looks at changes in bus propulsion as cities look to improve air quality and seek to reduce maintenance costs. Despite the ending of various incentives to adopt alternative fuels, the introduction of electric buses by US transit authorities is picking up speed as performance improves, costs drop and air quality considerations become increasingly significant. More US bus manufacturers are introducing zero-emission models and some recent contracts will see many more passengers getting their first