Skip to main content

Europe's first battery switch station unveiled in Denmark

In preparation for commercial launch later this year, Better Place has unveiled the company's first battery switch station in Europe at an event in Gladsaxe, just outside Copenhagen.
February 28, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
In preparation for commercial launch later this year, 909 Better Place has unveiled the company’s first battery switch station in Europe at an event in Gladsaxe, just outside Copenhagen. The station, which showcased the company’s battery switch technology, switching a 2453 Renault Fluence Z.E., is the first of 20 stations to be deployed across the country over the next nine months as part of the company’s nationwide network of charging infrastructure that will launch later this year in partnership with Dong Energy and more than 45 municipalities.

“Today marks a significant milestone for the partnership between Better Place and Renault. Together we are unlocking the full potential of electric cars, giving them virtually unlimited range because they no longer have to wait hours to charge. Danish consumers are poised to lead the transition to a more sustainable transportation model,” said Henrik Bang, Renault Denmark.

The battery switch experience is a simple, fully-automated process that together with the Renault Fluence ZE gives drivers the autonomy of unlimited range. Customers simply swipe their membership card, which authenticates the car and subscription via the Operations Centre to activate the switch. The rest of the process is automated, similar to going through a car wash, so the driver never has to leave the car. In just a few minutes, a robotic arm removes the depleted battery and replaces it with a full one and the driver is back on the road.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ERIC 2016: What shape the ‘Smart Road’?
    February 7, 2017
    Optimism about the future of highways worldwide abounded at the inaugural European Road Infrastructure Conference (ERIC) in Leeds, UK Around 500 delegates passed through the varied sessions during the three-day event at the Royal Armouries Museum in the northern English city of Leeds. They came away with many visions of what a motorway and road could look like. But what speakers at the event - co-organised by the Brussels-based European Union Road Federation (ERF) and the UK’s Road Safety Markings Ass
  • Terex Washing Systems set to launch new AggreSand system
    January 6, 2017
    Terex Washing Systems (TWS) is making final plans to unveil what it says is a new innovative washing system. The AggreSand system is the latest addition to what the company says is an already extensive product portfolio, and it is due to be officially launched in Quarter 2, 2013. The TWS AggreSand system combines aggregate washing and screening with sand processing on a modular chassis, and brings together “tried and trusted TWS components in an innovative modular design.”
  • Switzerland set for its first public hydrogen filling station
    April 9, 2015
    Swiss supermarket chain Coop and Swiss-based energy company Axpo plan to open Switzerland’s first public hydrogen filling station in 2016, according to a report by the newspaper Basler Zeitung. The two companies said more stations will be rolled out. Axpo will supply the hydrogen by splitting oxygen and hydrogen from water at its water power plant using a water electrolyser, an operation that is powered by the plant’s hydroelectric power station which makes the process carbon neutral. According to Axp
  • Fast, safe and sustainable transport for Johannesburg
    February 14, 2012
    GTZ highlights a pioneering scheme illustrating the potential of Bus Rapid Transit systems as a viable approach to alleviate the traffic and social problems faced by large cities worldwide