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First Commercial Fast-Charging Station for Electric Vehicles Open for Business - Epyon is Only Provider in Europe With a Commercial Smart Charging Solution


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AMSTERDAM, May 20, 2010 -- Epyon, a European leader in the development and marketing of smart charging solutions for the emerging electric vehicle (EV) market, today announced the opening of the first commercial fast-charging station in Europe.

Epyon's fast-charging station commercially operated by Dutch utility company Essent, part of RWE, will be unveiled today at the Tamoil petrol station in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. Amongst those attending the opening ceremony is Prince Maurits of Orange, chairman of the Formula E-team, a project group of the Dutch government to stimulate the use of EVs.

"We are very pleased to be the supplier of choice for Europe's fast-charging stations for EVs," says Hans Streng, CEO of Epyon. "We cooperated with a number of partners in this initiative, including the energy supplier Essent, the Leeuwarden community, the province of Friesland, Taxi Kijlstra and Tamoil and are excited to have reached this milestone, which is a key stepping-stone in the rollout of the European fast-charging infrastructure."

The fast-charging station delivers 50 kilowatts of power, which can fully charge the 9-person taxi-vans of Taxi Kijlstra in only 30 minutes. Taxi Kijlstra, the largest taxi firm in the north of the Netherlands, recently transformed two of their taxi fleet into electric powered vehicles without any limitations on the service side. The taxi-vans can drive 100km or more on a single fast charge. Friesland has an ambitious target of having 100,000 EVs on the road within the next five years.

Tried & Tested

The opening of the fast-charging station at Tamoil demonstrates that Epyon fast-charging solutions can be installed quickly, securely and in a compliant way within the controlled environment of commercial petrol stations.

Kjell Biezen, Electric Transportation Manager at Essent, comments: "The unveiling of the fast-charging station at Tamoil in Leeuwarden can be marked as the beginning of a roll out of fast-charging stations. We are committed to become the leader in the supply of electrical energy for the EV industry."

Remotely Maintained & Compliant

The intelligent charging stations are remotely configured, managed and maintained through Epyon's Power-Routing network. Epyon's fast-charging station is an elegantly designed and compact outlet that does not disturb the scenery and fits easily in a local streetscape. A single fast-charging station can operate several compact outlets, so multiple EVs can be charged simultaneously from a single charging station. The charging station in Leeuwarden and all future stations of Epyon support the international CHAdeMO-standard, an association for the standardization of quick-charging protocols.

About Epyon

For further information please visit http://www.epyonpower.com