One step forward for electrical mobility in the region

Six BMW i3 cars are already being used by employees of the DRÄXLMAIER Group and the Delta Group for emission-free business travel. Now the automotive supplier’s corporate headquarters in Vilsbiburg and the real estate specialist’s premises in Geisenhausen have expanded their charging infrastructure. There are now seven electrical charging stations at the DRÄXLMAIER company premises in Vilsbiburg and the same number in Geisenhausen at Delta. “Both companies have invested a total of more than 70,000 Euro, so that our electrical vehicles always have enough “juice,” said Robert Huber, manager of the DRÄXLMAIER automobile fleet, in Vilsbiburg during the installation of the new electrical charging stations. In the employee parking garage on the company premises at Landshuter Straße 100 there were four charging stations set up, at which the electrical company vehicles can “fill up” overnight. In addition, the automotive fleet and site management site near Building 21 has had two quick-charging stations installed, at which a BMW i3 with an empty battery can be almost completely charged within three hours. And since summer of last year there has been a so-called “wall box” in the fleet garage, which DRÄXLMAIER in Vilsbiburg can use as a high-capacity charging structure for a total of seven electrical filling stations.

In Geisenhausen as well, they want to be trailblazers in electrical mobility and they have also increased their charging capacity. “We have a total of four charging stations and three quick-charging stations, which get their power in part from two newly installed photovoltaic units,” said Dr. Uwe Behmel, Manager for energy and environmental engineering at the Delta Group. These are especially installed on the roof of the company car parking area and supply energy into the overall power network at the Delta site. “We are therefore using an mix of renewable energy and energy from local utilities, in order to charge our electrical vehicles in as environmentally friendly way as possible,” Behmel continued. 

“Many of our employees have already tested the BMW i3s from the DRÄXLMAIER fleet and used them for business travel,” Huber said concerning the positive response. Beginning this year, employees can easily reserve the electrical autos using internal reservation software.

Now DRÄXLMAIER is considering installing electrical charging stations at other German plant sites, so that company cars such as the BMW i3 can be charged immediately upon arrival.

The DRÄXLMAIER Group developed and produced interiors from renewable raw materials for the BMW i3. The surfaces of the door panels. the instrument panel,  as well as the column coverings and the tray behind the windshield, are made from the tropical mallow family plant known as kenaf. With their “visible nature” concept, the automotive supplier made natural fibers visible for the first time in automobile interiors. In addition, DRÄXLMAIER provides the low-voltage wiring harness as well as the high-voltage controls for the BMW i3. A subsidiary of the DRÄXLMAIER Group from Geisenhausen is also responsible for the development and production of the high-voltage controls, which provide the essential data for battery management and the charging level.