Slovakian EV fast charging leader GreenWay has quickly populated the country of Poland with 100 EV fast chargers. The company opened its first Polish fast charger in December 6, 2016. We’ve covered the company’s rollout several times since then, and we even partnered to co-organize and co-host a big regional EV charging conference in Warsaw and co-published in-depth EV charging guidelines for cities.
We're getting started: @cleantechnica's Regional Electromobility Revolution conference in Warsaw, Poland #EV #CEEEV pic.twitter.com/gTxSjxkSFD
— Monica Araya (@MonicaArayaTica) November 6, 2017
"The debate is not if electric cars are coming. They are coming. The debate is not if it's a superior technology. It is." @GWOperator #CEEEV
— CleanTechnica (@cleantechnica) November 6, 2017
@BadikP ultrafast chargers are barely here yet could be commonplace in #ceeev pic.twitter.com/8fB8t160Mf
— GreenWay (@GWOperator) November 6, 2017
#CEEEV @bjornutgard "9 out of 10 people around the world do not breathe safe air" reminded us @bjornutgard @evbox pic.twitter.com/h0AOh6KpJ7
— Monica Araya (@MonicaArayaTica) November 6, 2017
The 100th GreenWay charging station in Poland is at Galeria Mlociny (a large shopping mall) in Warsaw. The charging station is “co-located with 7 AC charging stations, to form a charging ‘hub’ where numerous drivers can recharge simultaneously.”
The station is like most of GreenWay’s other charging stations — it’s “equipped with three different connector types – CHAdeMO, CCS, and Type 2.” That means you can charge almost any electric car at a GreenWay station.
A Tesla Shuttle Model S charging next to a Nissan e-NV200, part of the local electric carsharing network Vozilla.
This is GreenWay’s 182nd fast charger overall. As noted at the top, GreenWay is a Slovakian company. It first built a nationwide fast charging network in Slovakia before expanding into Poland and other countries.
Out of curiosity, I asked the company which station is most popular. In Poland, it’s at Podium Park in Krakow. In Slovakia, it’s the Avion Bratislava station.
My Tesla Shuttle business partners Tomek Gać and Jacek Fior have used the GreenWay charging stations much more than I have, so while meeting with them over coffee today, I asked them for their thoughts on the network.
Tomek noted, “It’s a very reliable service, superb customer service line — 24/7. They have helped us on countless Tesla Shuttle routes, including multiple times at around 1:00 am or 2:00 am in the middle of the night when someone didn’t have a charging card or such.”
Jacek added, “The best thing is, for me, I still have the photo of the map of Poland that I took from Peter Badik’s computer screen two years ago from this coffee shop — and GreenWay delivered. They are highly reliable and execute what they plan.” Peter Badik is a co-founder and managing director of GreenWay. He’s also been reading CleanTechnica for several years! I interviewed Peter for a special webinar a couple of years ago when GreenWay’s Polish charging network was getting rolling. See: “EV Charging, The Next Generation (#Electrifying Webinar).”
Tomek added, “When I talked with the GreenWay Polska CEO, Rafał Czyżewski, in April, he highlighted that, unfortunately, new players Orlen, Lotos, and Tauron have come into the market late and now offer free charging that kills the free-market approach — which is not ideal in the long term.”
This was a huge issue at CleanTechnica’s EV charging conference in Warsaw in 2018. All major EV charging companies highlighted the importance of having paid charging that creates a more sustainable, high-quality charging network that can support EV drivers as long as they exist. The matter is also discussed at length in Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure: Guidelines For Cities.
While it is nice to have new charging options from Orlen, Lotos, and others, there have been uptime issues and software challenges with some of their initial stations. We have not experienced that with GreenWay, so it would be a net negative if the subsidized free charging created financial challenges for GreenWay. Furthermore, any technical issues while charging can be a quick, big turnoff to new EV drivers or potential drivers and can hurt the market.
Back to the good news, though, it is great to see GreenWay’s rapid progress in Poland across the region more broadly. It has been one of the first to market with ultrafast charging stations and battery-supported charging stations, among other things. For some of its key moments and our explorations of the company’s leadership, see:
- The Chicken Wins In Poland, And The Chicken Is Greenway
- Electric Vehicle Charging In Poland Taking Another Big Step Forward
- Superfast Charging Heats Up In Poland — GreenWay Lands Locations For Stations
- GreenWay Launches First “GridBooster” EV Fast-Charging System In Central & Eastern Europe
- Help Cities Create Intelligent Electric Transport Ecosystems — New CleanTechnica & GreenWay Report
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