Munich For Martin Schall, one of the obstacles to electromobility is the network of fast charging options, which is still poorly developed. “The sheer mass of electric cars will totally overwhelm the charging infrastructure,” says the co-founder of the start-up Numbat. More than every second car owner has no way of charging an electric vehicle overnight, for example in their own garage.
According to the Federal Network Agency, there are currently around 12,000 fast charging points in Germany. If 15 million e-cars are on the roads in 2030 as planned, at least 100,000 fast charging points will be needed nationwide, said Markus Emmert, board member at the BEM Bundesverband eMobilität, the Handelsblatt. “There’s still a lot of catching up to do.”
However, fast charging stations cannot be set up everywhere because the power grid does not have the capacities. Numbat sees a gap in the market here and wants to become one of the leading providers and operators this year with sales in the hundreds of millions.
The start-up from Kempten in Allgäu, which Schall founded together with Maximilian Wegener two years ago, has developed fast charging stations with integrated battery storage.
These can be operated almost anywhere because they can be filled with a connected load of 20 kilowatts or more. The storage supplements the connected load and can charge an electric car to 80 percent in less than 20 minutes. The batteries are purchased from Samsung and LG in Asia.
“We want to set up 600 charging stations this year alone”
In an interview with the Handelsblatt, Schall announced: “We want to set up 600 charging stations this year alone.” Sales are to be tripled every year, and the billion mark will be exceeded in the medium term. “We are extremely aggressive in the market.”
The company operates the columns itself and currently sells the electricity for between 40 and 60 cents per kilowatt hour.
(Photo: Numbat)
Numbat puts the columns and storage tanks in the parking lot for the customers, the installation costs the supermarkets and shops nothing. Numbat operates the columns itself and currently sells the electricity for between 40 and 60 cents per kilowatt hour. Additional income should bring advertisements on the pillars.
Currently, many companies are working on technologies to improve the charging system. For example, the Swiss Designwerk Technologies recently presented the first charging station in the megawatt class, which is primarily intended to charge electric trucks more quickly.
The start-up Adaptive Balancing Power offers a solution with high-performance flywheel storage systems, which should also enable fast charging without costly network expansion.
A battery is not the most ecological solution
“Every technology has its right to exist,” says association board member Emmert. At many locations there is no other option than to rely on storage because the necessary network capacities are not available. “Numbat is not alone with its approach, but is innovative and at the forefront.”
Numbat’s approach is considered interesting in the industry, but also has disadvantages. The integration of charging infrastructure into the power grid is becoming an increasing challenge, agrees Constantin Schwaab, founder of the charging station operator Wirelane. Therefore, such technical solutions are important.
However, battery storage deteriorated the ecological balance of charging infrastructure. The costs for the batteries are also still quite high. Whether such a model pays off depends heavily on the alternatives.
Numbat founder Schall also admits that batteries are not the most ecological of all conceivable solutions. But they are the most realistic. In addition, old batteries are reprocessed using a patented process, giving them a second life.
According to Emmert, the battery solution has the advantage that it can relieve the grid, for example when too much electricity is available.
charging stations
1000
charging points
by Numbat are soon to be installed in the parking lots of the Tegut trading company.
According to Schall, Numbat could later link the charging station network to form a huge, virtual battery storage system. For example, if there is an excess of cheap wind and solar power in Germany, it can be filled. Selling online is also conceivable if a lucrative price can be achieved there.
Numbat has already won the first supermarket chains as customers. The first columns with a charging capacity of 300 kilowatts are installed in the parking lots of 50 Feneberg branches.
“We analyzed numerous providers of charging stations and combinations with battery storage,” says Managing Director Christof Feneberg. However, Numbat’s product and business model are unique on the market.
Tesla and the big energy suppliers are also competitors
The trading company Tegut will soon follow with 1000 charging points. “An environmentally friendly fast charging offer is an additional service offer for our customers, but primarily also a large investment in clean mobility,” said Tegut Managing Director Alexander Wilhelm.
>> Also read: Why Elon Musk is taking legal action against Tesla’s German competitor, Wirelane
It is still unclear who will dominate the networks of the future. EnBW currently operates most fast charging points with around 800 locations, including, for example, at Rewe and drugstores. By 2025, 2,500 more fast charging points are to be added. In order to finance the expansion, EnBW is looking around for possible investors as partners.
In addition to the big competitors such as Eon and Ionity as well as Tesla with its own network, there are also many smaller, local operators. Experts therefore expect a consolidation, especially since the costs for expanding the network are high.
So far, Numbat has raised a mid-double-digit million amount in financing rounds. In order to be able to cope with the high investments, financial investors such as private equity and banks – similar to wind farms, for example – can participate in the operation via financing vehicles.
The start-up itself was able to attract well-known financiers. Paul-Josef Patt, one of the most successful technology investors in Germany, joined the Allgäu in a Series A financing round with his company eCapital.
The first investor was also Christoph Ostermann, who sold the battery storage specialist Sonnen to Shell in 2019 for a sum in the mid three-digit million range. “We are not primarily concerned with making money,” said Ostermann. Above all, he wants to pass on his industry knowledge and experience in setting up the company and thus promote the expansion of the charging infrastructure in Germany.
But according to Emmert, politicians must also play their part. “The market is there,” he says. However, many projects have been delayed because there are problems with building and grid connection permits. The procedures must be simplified and accelerated.
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