Car market, Ecology, Energy, Estonia, Good for Business, Tourism, Transport

In the first stage of the project, Eesti Energia and Elektrilevi are to focus on establishing 10 public fast-charging stations this year, prioritizing faster charging and a customer-friendly user interface that would enable easier booking and paying, Eesti Energia said.

In parallel, the companies will also start developing services for home consumers that would enable to integrate home-charging of electric cars conveniently into the customers' current electricity package.

Juri Teemant, chief customer officer at Eesti Energia Group, said in a press release that electric cars have become more competitive year by year and it can be predicted that the transition to electric cars will take place faster than previously though.

"Eesti Energia wants to be prepared for an increase in the number of electric vehicles and market changes by aiding the shaping of it ourselves," Teemant said.

With the development of the charging network, Eesti Energia wishes to contribute to reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the Estonian transport sector.

The charging network will be developed by Estonia's largest electricity distribution system operator, Elektrilevi. "As the development of electric transport will start to also impact the electricity network, it is important to develop transport along with the electricity network," Marko Viiding, head of electric transport services at Elektrilevi, said.

According to Viiding, Elektrilevi has two priorities when developing the infrastructure -- to make the charging of electric vehicles faster than before and suitable for European standard vehicles as well.