E-Rallye organised by the Moselle Departement in France makes a charging stop at Hager Group.

French politicians have long been aware of the significance of electric mobility as a technology with a promising future. In order to promote it in the Saar-Lor-Lux region as well, the Moselle Departement organised its third “E-Rallye” in 2015. This year's rally welcomed 26 electric vehicles travelling from Les Trois Forêts to Thionville in seven stages. On 16th September, the convoy of no less than 80 people made a charging stop at Hager Group in Blieskastel, the only pit stop on German soil.

It is no coincidence that the organisers chose Hager Group to recharge the participating electric vehicles. After all, the company has built up a reputation as a major manufacturer of recharging infrastructures in both Germany and France. 'We have also installed a large number of charging stations on site, which means that together with our intelligent recharging management system, we can recharge several vehicles at once,' explains Business Development Manager Achim Jager, who is among other things responsible for electromobility at the company.

From midday onwards, at 30-second intervals, the electric vehicles began arriving in Blieskastel. Hager was ready for them with a range of witty.home, witty.park, and witty.bamboo charging stations. The charging capacity was 230V and 400V and between 3.6KW and 22KW per charging unit. 'The technical challenge we faced was twofold: firstly, to ensure mains power supply at Blieskastel would withstand the pressure of recharging 26 vehicles simultaneously, and secondly, to guarantee complete recharging of all vehicles within three hours. Only an intelligent recharging management system such as the one we operate here can ensure this,' says Mr. Jager.

The company organised a varied programme to keep the participants entertained while their vehicles were being recharged: after being greeted by the managing director of Hager Electro GmbH & Co. KG, Rémy Becher, the secretary of state in the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Saarland, Jürgen Barke, and the president of the Saar Moselle Eurodistrict, Gilbert Schuh, visitors were invited to lunch. After lunch and a factory tour, all the electric vehicles were fully recharged, and so it was that the convey set off again at 2.45p.m. for the next pit stop in Metz.