With the unveiling of the Audi e-tron Quattro fast approaching, Audi is launching its ‘e-tron Charging Service’. This service allows access to 72,000 car charging stations from 220 different providers in Europe. Most importantly, it is all done with the ease of one card.
Because there are so many different charging companies popping up left and right, it becomes confusing for perspective electric car buyers to keep their head straight. Audi has done something very useful to help fix this problem. the company describes the service as such:
The service could not be easier to use: Whether AC or DC, 11 kW or 150 kW – just one card, the e-tron Charging Service Card, is all customers need to start the charging process. Many charging stations can also be activated by scanning a QR code with a smartphone. Customers complete a one-time registration for the service in the myAudi portal and take out an individual charging contract. All charging processes are automatically billed together at the end of the month. Customers can use the myAudi portal to view their current charging history at any time, review their current bills and manage their contract.
The service will try to make charging your Audi as unified of an experience as possible. For instance some companies charge variable fees based on time or power delivered, while other charge a flat fee. To help with this confusion, “Billing is handled centrally under a single contract, with standard, clear pricing models.”.
Audi states that these 72,000 car charging stations represent 80% of the public chargers available in Europe. This service extends to 16 EU nations, but will also spread to 8 markets in Eastern Europe within a few months’ time. So the service will seem to continue expanding as time goes on.
We should be commending Audi on launching this service. It is another step that makes the transition over to electric cars, much more easy. I can only hope that this service might somehow find its way over to the United States. Hopefully, if Audi doesn’t bring it over, that this service will set a precedent for other automakers to do the same.
The ‘e-tron Charging Service’ will be available for all upcoming e-tron models from Audi, including the Sportback and GT.
What do you guys think of this service? Let us know down in the comments below.
Source: Audi
