ESSEN (dpa-AFX) - Germany's largest energy supplier Eon has opened a test center for electromobility in Essen. According to the company, the "Eon Drive TestingLab" has 25 test stations and digital test environments for testing vehicles, charging stations, wallboxes and accessories.

There are five climate chambers in which all temperature conditions occurring worldwide can be simulated, Eon explained on Thursday. "This allows us to investigate the charging behavior of electric cars at temperatures between minus 40 and plus 50 degrees Celsius." Car manufacturers could thus dispense with complex and expensive tests in a real environment. According to Eon, the test center is the largest facility of its kind in Europe.

Eon wants to expand its e-mobility business across Europe. According to the Federal Network Agency, the subsidiary Eon Drive was Germany's second-largest charging station operator at the beginning of September with a good 3,900 charging points behind EnBW Mobility (over 5,500). The energy company plans to install at least 1,000 public, ultra-fast charging points in Europe every year in future. By 2022, Eon claims to have sold more than 20,000 charging points to private and business customers in Europe.

"With our new test and innovation center, we are creating the necessary capacity to meet the growing demand for charging infrastructure," said Eon Chief Sales Officer Patrick Lammers. Eon is thus ideally positioned for the dynamic market ramp-up of e-mobility.

One focus of the test laboratory is on the electrification of heavy goods vehicles. Together with vehicle manufacturers, Eon will test and develop charging technologies there that are designed for the special requirements of electric trucks and buses. According to Eon, the test laboratory is the only facility in Europe where fast charging in heavy goods vehicles with up to three megawatts (3000 kilowatts) of power can be tested./tob/DP/jha