Rome's first ultrafast charging station for electric cars has opened. On Corso Francia, in the northern part of the city, the first Enel X Store has been inaugurated: a genuine "petrol station" for this type of vehicle and, at the same time, a space dedicated to all the solutions and technologies of the future, from energy efficiency to the smart home, including digital payment tools. Built by Enel X in partnership with Volkswagen Group Italia, it makes four HPC (High Power Charger) stations available to the city, allowing four vehicles to be charged simultaneously.

A turning point in the spread of sustainable mobility

Each charging point delivers up to 350 kW of power and allows electric cars compatible with high-power charging to fill up with energy in around 20 minutes. In addition to the ultrafast chargers, there is also a JuicePole — the 22 kW + 22 kW public charging station — and a JuiceMedia, the digital screen integrated with two charging stations, reserved for test drives of Volkswagen Group Italia brands. These are the first four ultrafast stations in Italy from the "Central european ultra charging" project, co-funded by the European Commission under the Connecting europe facility transport 2017 call.

While their vehicle charges, customers can relax in the store's bar area, discover Enel X's sustainable technologies and products for the home and electric mobility, and take test drives in the latest models of the Volkswagen group with zero emissions. This, explained Enel X CEO Francesco Venturini, is "a turning point in our strategy for the spread of electric mobility in Rome and in Italy," a solution "that meets the need to fill up with energy quickly, to which others will be added in Italy's main cities. The aim is to offer a simple, reliable and fast charging experience."

Rome bets on electric cars and shared mobility

The inauguration ceremony — also attended by Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi and Volkswagen Group Italia CEO Massimo Nordio — was an opportunity to take stock of the future of electric mobility in Italy and the central role of charging infrastructure. According to Venturini, between 2024 and 2025 electric vehicles will overtake the traditional combustion engine. As for infrastructure development, "phase one was aimed at providing comprehensive coverage across the whole country, and this has been achieved with 12,000 charging points. The next step is to move to a different type of infrastructure: the major road arteries, and to invest in large cities, which have different needs." Large cities that are now betting ever more decisively on lower-impact mobility.

"From the outset," explained Raggi, "we have invested in electric and sustainable mobility. As early as 2017 we approved a regulation to begin public electrification, through the installation of hundreds of traditional charging points. The opening of this Enel X Store is a great achievement because it gives all electric car owners access to an ultra-fast point. We are working to open more across Rome." Last year, also thanks to the pandemic, marked an important turning point: "In seven months, between e-scooters and bike sharing, we recorded over 2 million journeys. Romans love sustainable mobility, and opening a store like this is a sign that the future is already here in Rome."

The Volkswagen group has made very significant investments in the mobility of the future, amounting to over 70 billion up to 2025, half of which on electric cars. "The future," said Nordio, "is electric because it is the technology that represents the best option, in terms of efficiency and sustainability, for achieving global climate targets and becoming a carbon neutral company by 2050. This choice places on us the responsibility to work as a team alongside the key players in the electric mobility ecosystem." Inside the store, the Volkswagen Group's 100 per cent electric models will be on display, starting with the ID.3 and, exclusively for Italy, the new ID.4