The growing number of the electric vehicles in the recent years requires an installation of the corresponding infrastructure. In the northern region of Slovenia, a consortium of partners (DSO, local/city councils, NGO/interest group) was inspired by the good practices of the technology implementation in several foreign nature reserves. They have joined the local nature tourism interests by promoting the "green” technology of electric vehicles.

 

Six electric vehicle charging stations have been installed in five communities (towns) in the Gorenjska region. These are geographically located close (enough) to each other, so that even less efficient electric vehicles can make the journey.

 

The area shares a border with Austria where even more EVs exist – their owners can now also visit northern Slovenia’s nature reserve entirely by EV. Charging of the vehicles has been offered free of charge.

 

What sets this project apart from other Smart Grid projects?

In the E-mobility by Elektro Gorenjska project, the increasing the number of tourists, along with the increasing transport load (number of vehicles) in the area has been linked to preservation of nature and the engagement of end users.

 

What happened?

The main contribution of this project is the expansion of the electric vehicle charging station system and the corresponding infrastructure in Slovenia’s northern region. Local communities have gained the experience with innovative promotion campaigns for marketing their tourism services. The positive outcome has resulted in their request for further charging station installations. Local companies began offering the electric bicycle and motorbike rental services. Newly installed charging stations have been listed in the national and global European map. The DSO has used the charging data for analysing the effects of connecting EV’s to the distribution grid. The local/city councils have even adapted their urbanization plans to allow the expansion of electric mobility technologies.