Electric Charging Stations in and Ukraine

Nowadays, the lifestyle of a modern citizen is transforming rapidly. Aside from a time factor, our gadget’s charge level affects our productivity and lifestyle. You can charge your smartphone and laptop in many public places. However, charging an electric car can be not so easy.

How does it Work?

Our task is to ensure that car charging does not distract the owner from his or hers issues on hand and does not adjust the usual life schedule. Therefore, the location of a station is chosen in a way that a person can do other necessary things while the car is charging: business centers, shopping and entertainment malls, sports facilities and public catering facilities are at client’s service. The number of stations is constantly growing. We created a smartphone application to facilitate navigation for our customers. This app indicates a new station within a few minutes after the start of its operation. 

The app covers all our electric charging stations in Ukraine.

This software becomes a personal assistant and a guide of the car owner because of its user-friendly features – indication and search for free to use stations, identifying the customer on-site and paying for charging services. In addition, the interface of the app displays an individual statistics of the electric vehicle – driving tracking, mileage, number of electric stations and costs for charging. In fact, the client’s smart card is not necessary at all. Just don’t forget to add funds to the personal account from which debits are made.

Locations

Our strategy is to launch electric charging stations in Kyiv at a faster pace. And, we are successful in that. Therefore, the capabilities of TOKA network, together with other operators, cover the needs of the city’s electric car fleet. We believe that there will be no development for electronic transport without a full-fledged infrastructure. The strategy is reaping fruit: it is pleasant to realize that our efforts to electrify the vehicle fleet contribute to city traffic change and transform the urban environment. The modern design of TOKA charging stations organically complements the urban landscape.

The network of electric stations provides neat charging stations in convenient places. By the way, new locations are being recommended by our customers themselves. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to put the station in the desired place. But, if the technical conditions for the equipment are met, there are no obstacles at all. In addition, customers purchase stations for personal use, in order to install charging station in the parking lot at the office or in the yard of their house.

Technical Part

Electric charging stations in Ukraine are more convenient in operation than a home outlet. The reason for that is a high charge rate: majority of electric vehicles have a full-time ability to receive 10.5 kW while ordinary outlet with 220V and 16A can obtain only 3.5kW, so the process of charging will be 3 times slower. TOP electric vehicles are equipped with an additional slot for high-speed charging - 22 kW. However, the process of extra speed charge continues to the 80% of charge level and stops. The second issue - the super-fast charging of batteries reduces their life, so our network of electric stations in Ukraine does not include such devices.

TOKA electric stations provide the charging through J1772 or Mennekes Type 2 connectors: after connecting, the process is being launched by the driver through the app - there are versions for Android and Apple. In about a minute, the battery gets a charge for 1 km run - all statistics on the progress of charging is available in the app. By the way, it also tells the driver what station in the network is currently free to use. Electric charging stations in Odessa and Kyiv operate on the same algorithm.

Increased charge rate is being provided by three – phase current: three-phase sockets are not a usual thing in apartments, but one can easily find them out-of-town. Yards of high-rise buildings and parking lots are perfect for mounting a 3-phase outlet, so owners of electric cars often purchase a charging station for personal use together. Despite the fact that the outlet is actually not in our network, the equipment warranty still applies. However, the main network of electric stations in Ukraine still belongs to the commercial segment, and the owner of the charging station can earn out of this service.

Cooperation

Initially, our goal was to provide easy and comfortable charging of electric vehicles in Kyiv. These aspirations are fully consistent with the company's mission - to build infrastructure for electric vehicles. Statistics show that the emergence of one station leads to an increase in the fleet of electric vehicles by 2-5 units. Therefore, we launch electric charging stations in Kyiv, and now in other regions as well, according to several schemes:

• Sale of equipment for personal use. 
• Installation of TOKA network station through renting the place on the partner’s territory.
• Installation of electric charging station on partner’s territory and joint participation in profit.
• Sale of electric charging station to the partner for commercial use.

We install the equipment of our own production, the manufacture of which uses imported components. Public electric charging stations can be either with one slot or with three slots -depends on the location and projected flow of customers. "Home" stations, as a rule, are single-ported and have neat size.

Recently, it was possible to charge the car for free. Today, the market has entered a stage when a customer is being charged for that. Electricity can be sold by energy companies only, so the amount of payment for the electric charging service consists of two parts: the first is the reimbursement of electricity cost. The second is a service charge. Some partners who purchase stations for their own use provide free access for their customers as a part of their loyalty programs.

Owners of electric cars belong to a solvent segment, so businesses are happy to involve them. For example, restaurants and fitness centers use a charging station as a marketing tool to attract the needed category of visitors. Also electric stations are capable of generating income as an additional business, if located in a good place. That is why we practice different partnership options. Regardless of the cooperation scheme being implemented, the 2-year warranty applies to TOKA equipment. We also provide installation, training and service.