November 28, 2024

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SK Signet Europe's flagship V2 ultrafast charger (SK Signet)

SK Signet, a South Korean manufacturer of electric vehicle chargers, said Monday it had recently won its first supply deal in Europe, worth 10 billion won ($7.7 million), through a regional subsidiary.

The establishment of SK Signet’s European subsidiary, SK Signet Europe, was announced at the CES trade show in January. Based in Germany, the local office aims to create sales and partnership opportunities in the region’s top five EV markets, Germany, the UK, Italy, France and Spain.

The first European deal was sealed in the UK, where a service center has been set up in the Luton area, about 50 kilometers north of London, to facilitate real-time customer response and product maintenance. SK Signet said it will further sharpen its edge in Europe, where laws and regulations differ by country and demand is high for customizable services and ultrafast EV charging solutions.

Under the European Union’s “Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy” announced in 2020, sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles are to be banned from 2035. The new law will clear up uncertainties that existed in the EU car industry and will speed up the proliferation of EVs and EV chargers, the company said.

The European Commission also advanced a carbon dioxide emissions law for heavy vehicles, requiring new trucks to cut emissions by 90 percent by 2040. Such change will stir the need for development of megawatt charging systems, which SK Signet is planning to introduce during the first half of next year.

SK Signet's V2 ultrafast charger allows electric vehicles to travel up to 400 kilometers on a single charge and charge an EV from 20 percent to 80 percent in just 18 minutes.

"Europe, which is spearheading the global EV era, is a significant market for SK Signet, and we are committed to electrifying Europe while contributing to the global net zero efforts with our ultrafast EV chargers,” SK Signet CEO Shin Jung-ho said in a statement.

By Kim So-yeon (sera13@heraldcorp.com)