Developing charging infrastructure to promote e-mobility in Barcelona

In the City of Barcelona, the fast chargers are located on public land and are operated by Barcelona City Council. The chargers have been provided by Endesa and a collaboration agreement has been signed by both parties for the promotion of e-mobility in the city.

The fast charging station could provide electric vehicles with fully charged batteries in less than 30 minutes. It offers three 'standards' for charging: CHAdeMO,CCS, andAC 43 or AC 22. 

• CHAdeMO is a charging standard developed by Japanese car manufacturers, delivering up to 50 kW DC via a special connector. The name CHAdeMO is a grammatical pun, which in Japanese means roughly “While you drink a cup of tea”. Tesla vehicles can use CHAdeMO fast charging if they bring an adapter.
• CCS, Combined Charging Standard, has been developed jointly by German and North American car manufacturers. This is an AC charge with a multiple purpose connector that also supports normal charging (Mennekes type 2-kontakt), 50 kW. The EU has decided that CCS standard is the minimum requirement for all new and refurbished public fast charging stations from 2018.
• AC 43 or AC 22 is a fast charging standard developed by French car manufacturers. As the name indicates, this is AC current charge of up to 43 kW or 22 kW.

In order to ensure the chargers stay available, only electric cars are allowed to park in areas with a fast charger and PEVs can only park in these areas while charging. Conventional vehicles and PEVs which aren’t charging are subject to fines if parked in these slots. So far, the fast chargers in Barcelona are mainly being used by taxis (22 out of 10,500 are electric taxis).