Circontrol Join Parking Talks to Discuss EV Solutions for Parking Facilities

As electric vehicles become more commonplace there is an increased need for the parking industry to provide EV charging. But out of this increased demand comes opportunities to offer other services that will improve the customer experience whilst also opening up new revenue streams.

During our latest Parking Talks, Joan Sardà, Marketing Manager at Circontrol, explained how Circontrol integrate EV charging solutions with their parking guidance systems and how they are meeting the demand for rapid-charging.

How Important Do You Feel EV Solutions Are to the Industry?

“EV solutions are something that have started to appear in the last few years, and during this time, the parking area, and the services available to the customer have become more important. As it takes some time to recharge the car, the parking operator has the opportunity to provide more services. So we are focusing on parking at a higher stage, and that is very good for parking networks.”

How Will the Need for More EV Charging Facilities Change the Face of Conventional Parking?

“We will need to identify where chargers are already installed and where chargers are required. We will also require some more guidance or segmentation from the clients, as there are a lot of services that can be provided alongside EV chargers, such as lighting, parking guidance and adverts close to the EV chargers.”

How Can You Integrate EV Charging with Parking Guidance?

“We have been working with EV chargers since 2008, but we have also been working on parking guidance systems and lighting since our company began. We have reached a point now where we are really in a position to see both aspects fitting together. For us this is a crucial part of our evolution because we are in both markets it is natural for us to bring them together to the parking industry. So, we are entering a challenging and exciting period of time where we are keen to show to the market that we are experts both in parking and in EV charging.”

What Opportunities Do You See in the EV Charging Market?

“We think that there are opportunities for super-fast charging. Chargers that take between one and two hours perfectly suit parking at destinations such as shopping centers, leisure centers, or cinemas, where you need to park the car for just a couple of hours. For these situations we are able to provide DC chargers.

“The ports that are available on-street in posts or wall boxes can also be installed inside parking facilities. We have done, for instance, a huge project in Sweden with more than 160 chargers inside the car park. And you really are going to see a lot of different products that can fit into the parking area.”

What Can We Expect from Circontrol in 2019?

“This year we are especially trying to show to the market that we are integrating both parking and EV charging. We have been working as two different divisions, but since last year we have realized that we can be stronger, and give a clear message to the market, by proving that we are experts in both fields.

“We believe that the parking garage is going to be a key place for EV charging processes, and so this year we are going to keep promoting how we can provide many other parking solutions alongside EV charging, so not only EV chargers, but sensors, and so on. This is something which we focused on during EVS32 which took place in Lyon from 20^th-22^nd May."

To hear more from Joan, and for insights from EVBox and Bluetop Solar Parking you can watch the Parking Talks in full:

About Circontrol 

Circontrol is a company founded in 1997 with headquarters in Viladecavalls (Barcelona). Its parking division designs and manufactures a global solution for efficient parking (guidance system, LED Lighting, energetic efficiency). Its emobility division manufactures a wide range of EV charging solutions that cover all market needs: domestic charge, slow charge (AC) and quick charge (DC).

Circontrol has a strong presence in the international market, where 80% of its sales are allocated. Nowadays you can find Circontrol solutions in 52 countries with 30.000 charging points and 400.000 parking spaces managed with CirPark systems. Service is also very important for Circontrol, this is the reason why bet on a qualified aftersales service and constant training for Circontrol partners are in the company’s DNA.