Germany advances e-mobility with charging curbs and new payment standards

Developments in Germany's electric vehicle infrastructure are advancing through new hardware and payment technologies. Rheinmetall has developed innovative charging curbs designed to integrate charging capabilities directly into street infrastructure. Following a pilot project in Cologne and surrounding areas conducted with charging point operator TankE, these curbs are now being deployed in cities including Düsseldorf, Cologne, Dortmund, and Braunschweig, with plans for expansion to Hamburg, Stuttgart, Leipzig, and Potsdam.

Simultaneously, a consortium consisting of DAFÜR GmbH, CuroCon GmbH, and Adaptive Balancing Power GmbH is working to standardize secure and accessible payment methods for ad-hoc charging. The collaboration aims to implement flexible billing solutions that support debit cards, credit cards, digital wallets, and loyalty programs like PayBack. This technology seeks to bridge the gap between charging station management systems and operator backends, ensuring compliance with requirements for card readers at new charging points.