Epyon to Deliver Fast Chargers to Large-Scale EV Taxi Operator Prestige GreenCab

RIJSWIJK, The Netherlands, March 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Intelligent System Helps Dutch Fleet Owner Integrate EV Charging in Regular Business Process

Epyon BV, the leading European supplier of intelligent charging solutions for electric vehicles (EVs), announced today that it will deliver fast-charging equipment and software to help Prestige GreenCab manage the charging of its large-scale EV taxi fleet.

Epyon will next month install a Terra Base Station 100.X with fast-charge posts in front of Prestige's office in the Dutch city of Nieuwegein. The multi-port system, which can recharge the batteries of up to four EVs simultaneously, will help Prestige reduce the charging time of its vehicles to as little as 15 to 30 minutes -- compared with eight hours when using a regular power outlet.

"We're receiving strongly increasing interest for our multi-port solutions from professional fleet owners like Prestige," said Johan Peeters, Epyon's VP of Marketing and Sales. "A cab company has to keep its vehicles operational throughout the day and can't afford to wait eight hours for a battery to charge. Fast-charging makes the business case work."

The Terra system will be connected to the Epyon service center, which provides remote maintenance, software updates and industry-leading backbone network uptime. Epyon will also deploy its power-routing capabilities to seamlessly integrate EV fast-charging into Prestige's day-to-day operations. Epyon's software allows Prestige to remotely monitor the charging status when vehicles are connected to the base station. The data will instantly be fed into Prestige's scheduling system to ensure rides will only be assigned to cabs with sufficient battery power.

Prestige currently operates six EV taxis and aims to scale up to 40 vehicles by the end of this year. It plans to offer its commercial formula as a franchise to taxi operators across Europe.

"We want to show the world that green cabs can be deployed in a commercially viable way," said George Jansen, CEO of Prestige. "Fast charging is a very important piece of the puzzle to make that happen. A large-scale network of fast chargers is being rolled out in the region. The network increases autonomy of green cabs and at the same time stimulates new adopters of EV as it is open to other users."

Epyon is rapidly scaling up operations across Europe as the market for EV fast chargers takes off. Since launching Europe's first commercially operated fast-charging station last year, Epyon has signed dozens of agreements with utilities, charging network operators and fleet owners to deploy its multi-port solutions.

About Epyon

For more information, please visit http://www.epyonpower.com