The Rheinmetall Group, together with the municipality of Nörvenich as the initiator and Westenergie AG as the energy and infrastructure provider, is launching a pilot project to trial curb chargers on the municipality’s public roads.

The aim of the project is to integrate and pilot the curb chargers developed by Rheinmetall at two different locations. The municipality is located within the catchment of the Cologne metropolitan area and is rural in nature with around 12,000 inhabitants. After Rheinmetall and the project partners recently signed a pilot contract, representatives of all project partners came together in Nörvenich for the official launch on 29 April 2024.

The pilot project follows on seamlessly from the recent rollout of the first curb chargers in the metropolitan area of the city of Cologne. (Earlier post)

While cities are known for their high population density and the associated challenges, such as low availability of space, urban planning restrictions, and high parking pressure, comparable problems arise in small communities, especially in areas dominated by apartment buildings. Other factors that have to be taken into account during planning and implementation include the width of sidewalks, lines of sight, supply lines in the sidewalk, and issues relating to listed buildings. These factors often make locations unfeasible or unattractive in terms of cost.

Ambitious climate protection targets and the central role assigned to smaller municipalities by the German government in the expansion of public charging infrastructure pose challenges. Simple and widely available charging infrastructure addresses these challenges and makes the municipality a more attractive option for residents in the long term.

The integration of the electronic module into a curb utilizes existing infrastructure and facilitates the installation of charging infrastructure even in places where it would not normally be possible to install a charging station.

The municipality and Westenergie worked together to find suitable areas within the municipality that were both highly frequented and had the necessary network infrastructure. Two locations were selected: Heribertstrasse in Eschweiler über Feld and Ubierstrasse in Nörvenich. The Düren-based civil engineering company Lück und Wahlen carried out the essential connection and civil engineering work for the project within a very short time frame.

The solution developed by Rheinmetall relies on the intelligent use of existing urban infrastructure and offers electric vehicle drivers charging facilities capable of delivering up to 22 kW. This solution can be installed almost anywhere and is therefore scalable, which is crucial for infrastructure providers such as Westenergie: this means that reliable charging infrastructure can be offered across a wide area and can also be rolled out in locations where it is not possible to install a charging station.