Green Solutions
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen has launched its new charging system for electric cars in Germany. The Heidelberg Wallbox Home Eco is the first ever product for end customers in a company history that spans almost 170 years. The system is aimed at individuals and also at businesses and local authorities that want to use the charging station to recharge the electric vehicles in their own fleets as well as those of customers and visitors.
The Wallbox Home Eco has a CE compliant design. Heidelberg developed all the power electronics itself and they are produced exclusively in Germany. Comparable solutions from Heidelberg have already proved a market success, with over 20,000 Wallboxes for the electric cars of a premium manufacturer and over 100,000 smart charging cables manufactured to customer specifications.
The Wallbox is a stationary charging device that can be installed on a wall, in a carport or on a column. Thanks to its effective fuse protection and integrated fault current detection, customers can use it not only in garages but also in carports and outdoors. As with the company’s printing presses, the Heidelberg development engineers deemed an attractive design to be particularly important. In a similar way to an electric oven, the power is supplied via a separate cable with corresponding fuse protection. Charging system operation is based on the extremely straightforward plug and play principle. The charging power can be adjusted in a range extending to 11 kW. The exceptionally robust design and operation mean no maintenance or servicing is required. The column does, however, need to be installed by a trained electrician.
‘Our Wallbox has been based around the most common charging behaviour of electric vehicle owners, who normally drive the car to work every day, park there – in their employer’s car park, for example – and leave the vehicle in their garage or carport overnight. They need a reliable and economical charging option for these periods and that is exactly what the Heidelberg Wallbox Home Eco provides,’ said Stephan Plenz, member of the management board responsible for Heidelberg Digital Technology.
The first charging stations are already available in the visitor car park at the Heidelberg Wiesloch-Walldorf site, where users can recharge their electric vehicle batteries for free during their visit. A company located in the vicinity of the site which hires out and sells scooters used by Deutsche Post, among others, has also already ordered several Heidelberg Wallbox Home Eco systems.
Heidelberg sees the Wallbox Home Eco as a basic entry level model. It is planning further versions, including a premium product that will also integrate functions extending beyond the charging process. Billing systems for users who wish to use the charging system as a paid service provider for third parties is just one example.
