Aukes Hannah - The Fastned story : part I & II

The Fastned Story part I, first published in 2014

The Fastned Story part I&II, first published in 2015

Copyright translation 2015 Brendan Monaghan

Copyright original text 2014 Bart Lubbers

Self-published in cooperation with Uitgeverij Boekenbent

Fastneds corporate style Angelique Verheij

Design Hannah Weis-Roos

Cover photo and page 204 Roos Korthals Altes

Editing Hannah Aukes and Glass Translations

ISBN 978-94-6203-796-0 Paperback

ISBN 978-94-6203-761-8 e-Book

PROLOGUE PART I

It was only when Id seen pictures on a digital camera, that I understood why Kodak was doomed. It was only when I had my own cell phone, that I realized why it was practical. It was only when Id used an iPhone, that I got the point of a smartphone. Seeing is believing. Or in the words of the famous Dutch footballer, Johan Cruijff: You wont see it until you get it.

Four years ago I had a similar experience with electric cars (electric vehicles, or EVs in the jargon). Until that time Id associated driving EVs mostly with environmentally friendly and a fantastic driving experience. And then it hit me: driving is freedom. All car advertising is about freedom, all road movies tell a story about the freedom to go wherever you want, and all car stories embody the ultimate feeling of freedom. Its precisely this sensation - or even just the promise of it - that makes driving so attractive.

The penny had dropped. I realized that EVs would never amount to much without this exhilarating sense of freedom. Or to put it in another, more positive way: if you can give EVs the aura of freedom, youre sitting on a pot of gold.

What do you need to experience freedom with a car? Firstly, it has to be an easy way to cover plenty of ground. And for that you need to be confident you can drive and refuel anywhere, at any time. Without confidence theres no freedom. For EVs that implies fast-charging everywhere en route.

Next, I addressed the question of where the fast-charge stations would have to be built. That was an easy one: the past century has shown that the most popular stations by far are those along the highway. Oil companies are willing to pay large sums of money to gain control of these sites. The easily accessible highway stations are able to charge higher fuel prices saving time is freedom for the driver, and people will pay for that. In addition, these sites are scarce. Only 245 of the 4,500 filling stations in the Netherlands are located along the highway. The law forbids other sites from being developed there. Fifteen-year concessions for highway sites are auctioned each year, for an average of 6 million euros per site! That amounts to a total of 1.5 billion euros for the entire network.

Getting hold of these sites is no easy matter for oil companies. But now, the emergence of the EV has thrown the playing field wide open. The best sites are gold mines. Its all about location, location, location. And as luck would have it, this happens to be Fastneds cornerstone.

Bart Lubbers

Amsterdam, February 2014

APRIL 27, 2012

A good draw

Im watching the state notary, Robbert Gallas, in suspense. He shakes the biscuit tin and draws a lot, followed by a second one. Bergh-Zuid service area: number 1 ANWB; number 2 Fastned. His assistant carefully notes the result, as do we. The notary briskly produces another lot. Knorrestein service area: number 1 Fastned; number 2 MisterGreen. I glance at my Fastned partner Michiel Langezaal. He cant help grinning. Weve got that one too!

It goes on like that all afternoon. Weve been summoned by the State of the Netherlands to the office of Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn , the public attorney, that Friday, April 27th 2012. A few months earlier, on December 20th 2011, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment published an article in the Government Gazette inviting parties to bid for the construction and operation of charging stations for EVs at the 245 highway service areas. There are several candidates for a number of the sites, so a draw has been organized.

HISTORIC MOMENT

I film 48 seconds of this historic moment with my phone. Its hard to believe that the plan we showed the ministry, is now becoming reality. Sites that oil companies fought over for decades are being dished out on a single Friday afternoon. I point my smartphone camera at the attendees. Their concentrated faces pass the screen one by one, as they carefully record the names and numbers being announced by the notary. Michiel waves unobtrusively at the camera.

Michiel and I look pretty relaxed in the picture. We applied for permits for all 245 sites back in December 2011. The other five parties the ANWB, The New Motion, MisterGreen, GreenFlux and Liandon took a more modest approach, focusing on a few dozen sites. When the auction window closes on January 16th 2012, there are offers for every site some even receive several bids. A comprehensive nationwide EV infrastructure is going to be built. Its a resounding success, far exceeding the ministrys expectations.

At the end of the afternoon the notary allocates the final service area. Time to take stock. According to our calculations, we were hoping to get two hundred sites. We got 201 not bad.

We didnt just bid on all 245 sites for nothing. Our plan was and is a comprehensive nationwide network of highway charging stations. It all started a few years back.

MARCH 2, 2009

A bright orange electric Lotus Elise

The first time I drive an EV is on March 2 nd 2009. A bright orange Lotus Elise that belongs to Willem van der Kooi. This enthusiastic entrepreneur is trying to convince the world that driving EVs is above all fun. Im sold on the idea and take a 10 percent stake in his company, ECE. On top of this, my seventy-year-old father starts driving an electric Volkswagen Golf, which has been converted by ECE. My father is one of the first Dutch EV pioneers. He clocks up substantial mileage.

Willem tells me hes not the only one making EVs. The Californian company Tesla also makes a sports car based on the Lotus Elise chassis. A real beauty, Willem says, before hastily adding, unaffordable of course; theyll probably only sell a couple of dozen.

Between the Tesla Roadsters introduction in 2008 and the end of production in 2012, Tesla sells 2500 of them.

MAY 20, 2010

Dutch start-up Epyon opens the first fast-charge station

My first experiences with EVs taught me a few things. They are fun to drive, accelerating like a bullet. However, their range is limited and charging is slow. My father is forever calculating how many kilometers he can manage. This often means he has to turn off the air conditioning or heating to reduce power consumption. My mother heaves a sigh when my father tells how he got back with only a couple of percent left in the battery. Or the times he doesnt make it home, and calls from the local pub to say that the bartender has been kind enough to let him use a socket. But even that usually ends well. My father drinks a cup of coffee with the bartender, and afterwards both of them have a good story.

RANGE ANXIETY

It soon becomes clear to me that a solution has to be found for the range problem, or range anxiety as it is also known. Almost every EV driver says that range anxiety is the single biggest obstacle to a serious breakthrough for EVs. Driving is freedom but a car with a small battery, plugged in so often for hours on end, isnt fun for long.