We’re back from our first ever Fully Charged LIVE Europe! Taking place in Amsterdam’s RAI conference centre from 24-26th November, the weekend marked the second year this iteration of the Fully Charged LIVE events has graced the city with its presence.
Given most of the Zapmap team in attendance had just driven from South Wales in an MG5 EV, we were grateful to find the leading electric vehicle and clean energy solutions event buzzing with visitors, exhibitors and staff under the vast roof of the conference hall.
Compared to the blistering May sun that accompanied Harrogate’s Fully Charged LIVE North, the wind and rain lashing the panels overhead may occasionally have raised eyebrows, but it did nothing to dampen the energy of the event.
Indeed, Chinese vehicle manufacturers were there in force, from BYD and NIO through to XPeng and Zeekr. Others were there too of course – Hyundai, Tesla, and young Italian brand AEHRA – but the Chinese brands were hard to miss.
Suffice to say, there were certainly a lot of vehicles on display. Despite the presence of brands such as MyEnergi, the exhibitors as a whole were geared less towards charging and more around the vehicles themselves than at previous Fully Charged events we’ve attended.
With a whole host of live talks from industry experts and the cast of Fully Charged LIVE, including figurehead Robert Llewellyn, there was (as always) loads to see. From panels on battery chemistry and last-mile delivery solutions, through to the DJ greeting you upon arrival – or the sustainable cookery show pitching Jack Scarlett and Robert Llewellyn in a green MasterChef-style head-to-head – there’s something for everyone at these shows.
Zapmap's Alex Earl speaks to Daniel Brown from ChargePoint.
We were very pleased to speak to a whole array of people from across the industry as well as happy users of the Zapmap app, one of whom had driven from Stuttgart to Scotland in a Renault Zoe using Zapmap along the way.
What's more, many of these conversations really hammered home the importance of partnerships as the industry grows, as well as the rise of dynamic and time-of-use pricing across charging networks. Keep an eye out for some of these interviews, not least with event organisers Robert Llewellyn and Dan Caesar, which we’ll be sharing with you over the next few weeks.
Fully Charged LIVE Founder Robert Llewellyn and CEO Dan Caesar share their wisdom.
And finally, we mentioned the event was geared around vehicles – but not only cars. It would be remiss to neglect the fact that this is Amsterdam we’re talking about, and that Fully Charged LIVE was co-locating with the International Cargo Bike Festival. As such, there were two and three-wheeled vehicles around many a corner, and it was great to see micro mobility (electric and people-powered) going strong.
New Italian brand AEHRA attracted attention.
With a positive, purposeful atmosphere pervading proceedings, we were sorry to leave. From those working hard across the EV industry through to seasoned Zapmappers, we had a fantastic time speaking to all of you.
But all good things must draw to a close. We jumped back into the MG5 EV and headed home to Bristol, ready to share the best way to make your electric journeys as simple as possible, wherever you go.
