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Kick-off for cooperation with ALDI Suisse in Wil (SG)
With the opening of its new store in Wil (St. Gallen), Swiss retailer ALDI SUISSE has also signalled the start of its rollout of fast-charging stations for electric cars. Four high-power charging points supplied by fast-charging specialist GOFAST will go into operation on Thursday in the underground car park beneath the new store at the Schwanenkreisel roundabout. The project is part of a national collaboration between GOFAST and ALDI SUISSE to equip around 150 stores with fast-charging stations.
High-power charging points in underground car park
The collaboration announced by GOFAST and ALDI SUISSE at the end of last year to expand the fast-charging network for electric cars is now beginning to bear fruit. Along with the opening of the new ALDI store at the Schwanenkreisel roundabout in Wil on Thursday, the first of around 150 planned fast-charging sites at the Swiss retailer will also go into operation. Customers will now have access to four charging stations with high-power chargers (HPCs) at the store’s underground car park. The charging capacities of up to 300 kilowatts mean it will be possible to fully recharge even an empty electric-car battery during a short shopping trip typically lasting 20 to 30 minutes. Customers will be able to conveniently pay by credit card or using charging cards/apps offered by popular e-mobility service providers. Only green electricity from Switzerland will be used. To mark the opening, GOFAST is offering a special price of CHF 0.49 per kilowatt hour at the new Wil location until the end of October.
Charging solution for urban spaces
For Domenic Lanz, CEO of GOFAST, the fast-charging location in the heart of Wil is also important because the public charging infrastructure is still lagging far behind, especially in urban areas. According to Lanz, it is often difficult to adequately equip existing rental properties with AC charging solutions for technical and financial reasons; public fast chargers are therefore a good solution, not least for electric-car drivers without home charging options. “And if drivers can do a quick shop while charging, as is the case here, that is a pretty ideal situation,” says the pleased GOFAST CEO.
Major rollout in 2025 and 2026
The newly opened location in Wil is the first of a total of around 150 stores that GOFAST intends to equip in collaboration with ALDI SUISSE in the coming years. A few more stations are expected to go into operation in 2024, while the large-scale rollout is planned for 2025 and 2026. The future locations will generally be slightly larger than the underground car park in Wil. With a high number of available charging points per location, GOFAST wants to ensure that customers can always find a vacant charging point when visiting ALDI. The collaboration between ALDI SUISSE and GOFAST will give an additional boost to the public charging infrastructure, with numerous high-power charging points to be built all over the country in a short space of time thanks to the retailer’s extensive network of stores.