There is a lot going on in this Audi electric vehicle charging hub that opened at the end of 2021 in Nuremberg, Germany. At ground level, it provides six quick-charging stations built into containers that can be assembled in a few days. It is full of 2.45 megawatt-hours of “second life” batteries recovered from dismantled cars so the building doesn’t need an expensive high-voltage connection to the mains. It can fill up on a 200-kilowatt connection, bumped up by 30 kilowatts of solar panels on the roof—that’s enough juice to fill 80 cars per day.
According to Audi’s press release:
This charging hub is designed for urban environments—for people who do not have charging facilities at home. It takes about 23 minutes to charge a car from 5% to 80%, during which the driver can while away the time in the lovely lounge upstairs, built over the charging containers. Putting it upstairs is a smart idea, given there are entire web pages devoted to Audis crashing into buildings.
This is also where the concept gets really interesting. The press release states:
The charging station becomes like an airport, where one has a captive customer for products or services. Since Audi is an upscale car, this is more like an upscale airport lounge. There is money to be made when people have time to kill. There is a larger business opportunity here.
In North America, one usually tries to get in and out of a highway rest stop as quickly as possible, but in Japan, they have “michi no eki” or roadside stations that are destinations in their own right. According to the Japanese Consulate General in New York, there are lots of ways to pass the time and spend money. The consulate website notes:
On the Autostrada in Italy, they have the Autogrill built into bridges across the highway. Many people rave about the food, although one food critic says that, “generally speaking, the high opinion of this massive brand is completely overblown.” But sitting on a bridge eating pasta while the cars race below is a lot of fun.
This is not the first time we have discussed this concept, having previously shown Hewitt Studios’ vision of a mobility hub that is more than just a place to charge a car, but also was “developed by Hewitt Studios to offer attractive, safe and sustainable neighborhood EV and e-bike charging with integrated cafe/demonstration space.”
The Biden administration’s currently dead Build Back Better bill proposed the U.S. government provide $7.5 billion for charging infrastructure on the assumption that the private sector wouldn’t do it on its own. But Audi, with its charging hub, demonstrates a different model, where it makes money on the charging and then has a captive audience for half an hour where it can sell everything from coffee to cars. The Hewitt Studios café/coworking model is also intriguing. But I am holding out for the full michi no eki concept, complete with hot spring baths and Ferris wheels.
