Audi has opened a new Audi charging hub in Munich’s Obersendling district. The brand with the four rings has recently begun cooperating with &Charge, a company that enables users to publicly rate charging stations and rewards them for doing so. A pilot project is being launched at the Audi charging hub in Nuremberg with the aim of adding an augmented reality experience to the digital ecosystem.
The brand with the four rings is opening another Audi charging hub in September 2023. Following Nuremberg, Zurich, Berlin, and Salzburg, the charging station in Munich’s Obersendling district will be the fifth for the brand. The new Audi charging hub in Zielstattstrasse offers four quick-charging points that can be booked in advance and offer up to 320 kilowatts of charging power.
“With what is now our fifth Audi charging hub, we are defining a new performance standard for charging in urban residential areas,” says Bastian Geretshauser, Audi charging hub Munich project manager. “Besides offering up to 320 kW of charging power per charging point, we also ensure constant charging power by means of the power cubes. They consist of used lithium-ion batteries from decommissioned research vehicles that get a second life as buffer storage units in the charging hubs. Thanks to this solution, we achieve an impressive energy capacity of 1.05 megawatt hours. Theoretically, this would be enough to charge 60 vehicles without interruption before the charging power begins to slowly decrease.”
The new high-power charging hub is located in the south of Munich in a residential area with attractive shopping facilities, restaurants and cafés as well as sports and leisure facilities. As Bastian Geretshauser points out: “This Audi charging hub welcomes all vehicle brands.” Drivers of an Audi, however, enjoy discounts. Depending on the contract, charging costs Audi drivers from 0.35 euros per kWh, and they can reserve one of the four charging points in advance on their smartphone via the myAudi app. Third-party users of the ad hoc charging option pay 0.50 euros per kWh either by credit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.
Electric car drivers of all makes will also benefit from Audi’s partnership with the provider &Charge in the future. Drivers who actively share customer feedback as part of special challenges at all Audi charging hubs will receive so-called “free kilometers”. Users of the Audi charging hub can rate the charging station’s user-friendliness, cleanliness, and overall impression.
The goal is to provide the best possible charging experience and to implement improvements quickly. The &Charge app is available free of charge in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. It allows users to rate all charging stations throughout Germany, regardless of the provider.
Audi continues to enhance its own digital offerings. Together with Vodafone, Audi is testing a new augmented reality application at the charging hub in Nuremberg. “With your smartphone, you can explore the Audi charging hub in Nuremberg and find more information at five different points of interest,” explains Maximilian Oberacher, Audi charging hub innovative Services project manager. “By integrating digital elements into the real world, users can expect a few wow moments. For example, the app shows virtual Audi e-tron models, illustrating how interconnected second-life batteries are used to charge it.” Users also benefit from a wide range of digital media that they can use free of charge while charging.
