The 3.5-year long project run by a consortium of partners coming from German OEMs, financial world and research, and financed by the German Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy, has just opened its subsidies to charging locations with CHAdeMO connectors, over one year after the announcement of the project.
Granted a 12.9 M Euro budget, SLAM will look at charging locations, business models, billing and payment, as well as charging demand, all with the ultimate objective of working out the optimal economic model for fast charging. Stuttgart University and the RWTH Aachen University are leading data gathering, whereas the industrial partners are providing chargers. A total of 600 chargers are planned to be included in the project, 200 of which directly subsidized by SLAM, with another 200 erected and fully paid for by the consortium partners. The final 200 will come from external investors that associate themselves with the project.
All chargers that are part of SLAM must have at least one Combo2 and one Type 2 connectors and a capacity of charging with 50kW DC. While multi-standard chargers have always been included in the research and 10 of them already feature on the SLAM’s project map, they were not eligible for any kind of funding. This, however, has just been changed.
Two types of subsidies are now offered: 1/ for ordinary locations and 2/ for locations with high EV traffic potential (so called ‘Hot-Spots’). In the first case, SLAM can cover 40-50% of the total cost of deployment of one charger, including the planning, ground works, electricity connection and hardware, whereas the second charger with CHAdeMO connector in the same location can benefit from having all but hardware subsidized[1] (see illustration from the official investor guide, where multi-standard chargers are marked “divers” in grey, meaning not eligible for funding.)
In the case of Hot-Spots, i.e. locations deemed particularly attractive from the point of view of EV drivers, up to 75% of subsidies for up to three chargers with any combination of Combo2 and Type 2 connectors can be received. In addition, like in the first case, the third charger with a CHAdeMO connector (“divers”) can benefit from ¾ of the ground works and electricity connection paid.
The change seems to reflect the slow uptake of SLAM grant usage, as well as the growing understanding of the importance of CHAdeMO in the German market.
Source: http://www.slam-projekt.de/
[1] Provided it is physically separate from other chargers benefitting from the subsidies. The subsidized charger must have at least 1 Combo2 and Type 2 connectors.
