The need for a transition towards less polluting mobility, with electric vehicles as a substitute for gasoline cars, is gaining strength. The main barrier to changing models is the lack of a sufficiently populated and well-distributed network of chargers, as are the high prices currently paid for these new vehicles. Manufacturers like Seat demand the deployment of more charging points to generate sufficient demand and have incentives to focus on electric production.
Although there is still a long way to go in this transformation, Barcelona is well-positioned to do so. Firstly, it benefits from the dynamism of its automotive sector, with leading companies like Seat, cutting-edge players like Wallbox, Silence, Ray Electric or Pursang, and the opportunity that Nissan's land can represent to occupy them with projects that electrify the sector. Precisely, Silence has just presented an urban electric car that it hopes to manufacture at the Japanese manufacturer's plant in Montcada i Reixac, with an investment of 30 million and the forecast of producing 30,000 vehicles annually starting in 2027.
Barcelona also leads the ranking of Spanish cities with the most public charging points, according to calculations by B:SM, the city's main electric mobility operator through Endolla Barcelona. Currently, the Catalan capital has 600 points, which began to be installed more than a decade ago, far ahead of Seville (75), Palma de Mallorca (26), Murcia (20), Zaragoza (16) or Madrid (7). At a European level, it can be compared with the main cities.
Currently, the Catalan capital has 600 public chargers, which began to be installed more than a decade ago, far ahead of Seville (75), Palma de Mallorca (26), Murcia (20), Zaragoza (16) or Madrid (7)Most of the 600 public chargers in Barcelona are slow charging and are located in the 45 car parks that B:SM has distributed throughout the city, which have a total of 14,000 subscribers. This offer, which was free until last January, is mainly aimed at those Barcelona residents who want to have an electric car, but do not have a place to install a charging point at home, either because they don't have a parking space or they leave the car on the street. "From the administration, we act as tractors because for private individuals it is still expensive to install chargers and it is still difficult for them to make a profit," defends the director of Urban Mobility Solutions at B:SM, Josep Maria Deulofeu, waiting for individuals and companies to be encouraged to have their own points, the optimal solution.
In addition to the public charging points in Barcelona, there are more than 200 owned by private operators, according to B:SM. Endesa and Iberdrola are companies that have installed chargers in the city, a service that has always been paid. In the case of Endesa, the 200 charging points it has in the city are located in car parks, most of them owned by Saba and Bamsa ---a mixed company participated by Saba and the Barcelona City Council---. In these car parks, Endesa is the charge manager, while Saba is responsible for the investment and development of the network. On the other hand, Iberdrola has almost 50 charging points in the Catalan capital.
Reaching 3,300 points
With the forecast that electric cars will gain followers in the coming years, B:SM will invest 12 million euros to expand the charging points and reach some 3,300. Until now, the operator had allocated five million euros to the development of this network. The new investment will allow 400 more chargers to be added before 2024, bringing the total to 1,000. The remaining 2,300 will only be pre-installed, that is, the wiring ---the most complicated part--- will be laid, but not the charging point. Deulofeu points out that doing so allows for greater flexibility while demand is not fully encouraged, taking into account that point technology evolves rapidly and would become obsolete without having been used.
Currently, the Endolla Barcelona network offers an average of 5,500 monthly recharges, a figure that represents an occupation of 10%, far from its saturation. Even so, the operator detects how uses are increasing, with a registered increase of 37% between January and September of this year. In September alone, 6,404 recharges were registered.
Fast charging in the metropolitan area
B:SM also installs chargers on the street, but to a lesser extent. These points are designed for emergencies, to assist drivers who need to charge their vehicle's battery while on a journey, and are fast-charging, meaning that in less than an hour the car can be back on the road. Those in the car parks require more time, generally all night, and therefore have more competitive prices.
Around the Catalan capital, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) began to develop its public network of charging points starting in 2015. The first ten chargers that the AMB installed were located in El Prat de Llobregat, Cornellà de Llobregat, Sant Joan Despí, Gavà, Badalona, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Pallejà, Barberà del Vallès and Montcada i Reixac, thus covering the 36 municipalities that make up the metropolitan area.
The AMB began to develop its public network of charging points starting in 2015The AMB opted to develop electric charging stations, which have one or several charging points, and located them on public roads. Unlike most chargers in Barcelona, the supramunicipal institution opted to place points that would allow for emergency solutions, but not so much for the slow, overnight charging that is promoted in B:SM parking lots, explains AMB Mobility technician Rossend Bosch. Six years after the start of the deployment of the metropolitan charging network, the AMB has just begun the procedures to expand it and build about 50 more points, ensuring that there are points in each of the municipalities.
The proportion between public and private chargers in the metropolitan area remains the same as in the Catalan capital, with a preeminence of administrations, Bosch points out. For the technician, the participation of companies in the development of a network of charging points has been timid in recent years, but it is becoming active, given that the market is starting to reach more customers. Despite this, AMB chargers continue to register a greater influx because, in addition, they are still free. In fact, when Barcelona Endolla became paid, the AMB registered a clear increase in demand. As of today, the supramunicipal institution registers 4,000 monthly recharges at all the points it has installed.
The proportion between public and private chargers in the metropolitan area remains the same as in the Catalan capital, with a preeminence of administrationsIn addition to the expansion that the Barcelona City Council and the AMB are facing, Endesa and Iberdrola are working to have a greater presence in this market. Endesa, through the Endesa X division, wants to reach 36,000 points distributed throughout Spain in 2022, located on main roads, urban areas and private spaces such as shopping centers, parking lots, hotels or service areas, while Iberdrola will invest 150 million euros to install 150,000 points in homes, businesses, cities and highways throughout the country in the coming years. Naturgy, which still has no chargers in the metropolitan area or in Barcelona, also joins this race to lead the electric car marketand plans to build a network of 1,100 charging points nationwide in urban environments, towns with more than 50,000 inhabitants with low-emission zones, and interurban environments on the main communication routes.