Repsol opens first ultra-fast EV charging point in Spain, Portugal

The company plans to install this technology at four other service stations belonging to its network in 2019.

Repsol has opened the Iberian Peninsula’s first ultra-fast charging point for electric vehicles, which is also one of the first in southern Europe. The facility, located on the N-I highway in Lopidana (Álava), can recharge the battery of any vehicle that is compatible with its maximum power output in five to ten minutes.

Located at a Repsol service station, the charging point has a maximum power output of 700 kilowatts (kW), which can be distributed among its four supply posts according to the capacity of each vehicle’s battery. It can therefore be configured to deliver 350 kW to two vehicles simultaneously, or 175 kW to four vehicles at once.

The Basque Government’s Minister of Economic Development and Infrastructure, Arantxa Tapia, said that “this is an important step in the process of decarbonization and the push for electric mobility being promoted by the Basque Government, which is aware of the need for a realistic and orderly transition.”

For his part, IBIL Chairman Emiliano López Atxurra emphasized that “this is proof that we are truly practicing what we preach. Repsol and EVE made this promise when they created IBIL ten years ago, and they have fulfilled it through nationwide technological and industrial development.”

Repsol plans to offer this cutting-edge technology at four other service stations in its network in 2019. In addition, the company currently has 31 fast charging points at its service stations. It also participates, through IBIL, in a network with more than 1,700 charging points, 200 of which are publicly accessible.

The ultra-fast charging point in Lopidana was installed by IBIL, a company backed by Repsol and the Basque Energy Board (EVE) with the aim of developing technology, services, and capabilities in the field of electric charging.

The facility in Lopidana is part of E-VIA FLEX-E, a European project that provides for the development of a pilot network of 14 similar facilities along transportation corridors in Spain, France, and Italy.