• First place for intelligent MAHLE charging structure in the category
  • “Excellence in Business to Business – Automotive Technologies”
  • chargeBIG is an intelligent charging solution for all-day parkers of e-vehicles
  • Jury praises chargeBIG as a “major step on the road to e-mobility”
  • MAHLE CEO Dr. Jörg Stratmann: “Award demonstrates the innovative strength of the MAHLE Group”

The MAHLE Corporate start-up chargeBIG has secured first place at the German Innovation Award 2020 in the category “Excellence in Business to Business – Automotive Technologies”. MAHLE won this competition, whichwas hosted for the third time by the German Design Council, with its charging infrastructure solution for electric vehicles. An intelligent charging solution for all-day parkers, chargeBIG can be integrated – costeffectively and easily – in the existing infrastructure. The jury praises chargeBIG as a “major step on the road to e-mobility”. MAHLE’s e-charging system is already being successfully used at Stuttgart airport as well as by the “Landesbank Baden-Württemberg” bank (LBBW).

“I am delighted that the German Design Council has awarded our intelligent
charging infrastructure approach for all-day parkers with the first prize, thus also recognizing the creativity of our corporate start-up chargeBIG”, says Dr. Jörg Stratmann, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of MAHLE. “This award demonstrates MAHLE’s power to innovate and our expertise in developing innovative products that are perfectly tailored to the needs of markets and customers”.

In the opinion of the panel of judges: “One of the handicaps of using e-vehicles is that an adequate charging infrastructure with sufficiently fast charging points is still not in place. MAHLE realized that short-distance commuters, in particular,have no need at all for fast charging points. As the cars invariably remain in the parking lot during the day, they can be charged using the slower and hence cheaper method that uses charging outputs of up to 7.2 kilowatt. With its innovative product, MAHLE is actually going one step further – by integrating the vehicles into an intelligent load management system. This is a powerful system that makes optimum use of existing resources while being comparatively costeffective. As such, it constitutes a major step on the road to e-mobility”.

Intelligent charging for long-stay parkers
With its chargeBIG system, MAHLE is offering an ideal solution for parking lots where electric vehicles are left for extended periods, as in company parking garages, at airports, for fleet operators, or in underground garages for large building complexes. MAHLE’s chargeBIG system is not about charging as quickly as possible, but charging as quickly as necessary, while serving as many vehicles as possible at the same time.

Sophisticated but affordable technology
Instead of individual charging columns in the parking lot, the chargeBIG charging concept uses a central control unit with permanently installed cables that regulates the power supply to the vehicles. This eliminates the need to invest in expanding the grid connection, thus saving time and money when setting up the charging infrastructure.

A central control unit distributes the available charging capacity across the
parked vehicles using dynamic, phase-specific load management. This ensures optimal utilization of the available power supply. As an option, MAHLE chargeBIG also offers the charging solution as a package, which includes installation, service and maintenance. The meter solution for billing per charging point in compliance with calibration law, which is currently in the process of being certified, can be used in future to accurately bill each charging process down to. the last kilowatt hour. Charging points are accessed via an app and a QR code scan.

Founded in 1953 on the initiative of the German Federal Parliament, the German Design Council presents the German Innovation Award for trendsetting innovations that have a lasting impact and provide added value to users. “This year’s competition attracted 700 entries overall. Awards were presented for innovations in a total of 40 categories in two competition classes “Excellence in Business to Consumer” and “Excellence in Business to Business”.

About MAHLE

MAHLE is a leading international development partner and supplier to the
automotive industry as well as a pioneer for the mobility of the future. The
MAHLE Group is committed to making transportation more efficient, more
environmentally friendly, and more comfortable by continuously optimizing the combustion engine, driving forward the use of alternative fuels, and laying the foundation for the worldwide introduction of e-mobility. The group’s product portfolio addresses all the crucial issues relating to the powertrain and air conditioning technology—both for drives with combustion engines and for emobility. MAHLE products are fitted in at least every second vehicle worldwide. Components and systems from MAHLE are also used off the road—in stationary applications, for mobile machinery, rail transport, as well as marine applications. In 2019, the group generated sales of approximately EUR 12.0 billion with more than 77,000 employees and is represented in over 30 countries with 160 production locations. At 16 major research and development centers in Germany,
Great Britain, Luxembourg, Spain, Slovenia, the USA, Brazil, Japan, China, and India, more than 6,100 development engineers and technicians are working on innovative solutions for the mobility of the future.

For further information, contact:

Margarete Dinger
Corporate Press Officer
Phone: +49 711 501-12369
Email: margarete.dinger@mahle.com

Christopher Rimmele
Press Officer, Product & Technology
Phone: +49 711 501-12374
Email: christopher.rimmele@mahle.com