– The situation with Easee is sad, but he contributed to greater focus on Zaptec’s products, says Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen, CEO of Zaptec. We meet the Dane in Westcontrol’s factory premises at Tau outside Stavanger. This is where the charging boxes are produced. It is screwed and it is mounted. Half-finished charging boxes lie in rows. At Westcontrol, employees work three shifts a day to get enough chargers ready. Today, 140 people work exclusively on making Zaptec chargers. Emil Berg is in full swing producing Zaptec chargers at Westcontrol in Tau. Photo: Tom Edvindsen / news – We are a listed company, so I cannot mention any figures, but I can at least say that this year we have doubled our production, says Bardenfleth-Hansen. Further south, at arch-rival Easee on Forus, the story is different. They have been banned from selling in Sweden. And now the Netherlands is considering the same. The Easee case: This has happened The Swedish supervisory body Elsäkerhetsverket questioned Easee’s chargers Easee Home and Easee Charge in February. On March 14, it was decided to completely stop sales in Sweden. The background is, among other things, that the charging box does not have an earth fault breaker that meets the requirements of the Swedish authorities. In Norway, the Easee chargers are still sold, but several Easee dealers have temporarily stopped selling and installing the chargers. Easee has announced that they will appeal the decision to the Swedish Safety Agency, and collect money from investors. But the case can take time, and as a consequence, subcontractor Norautron sent notice of dismissal to 81 of its employees on Tuesday 21 March. On March 17, Easee announced mass layoffs of its employees. On 24 March, 138 of the company’s employees were made redundant. On 4 April, Easee announced that the Netherlands is also considering a sales ban. The day before the news of the sales ban became known, one Zaptec share cost NOK 27. When Oslo Børs closed on Wednesday, the share price was NOK 36. That is an increase of 25 per cent in one month. – One should not bask in the misfortune of others, it will be wrong. Competition is a good thing. I have often talked about Easee and Zaptec like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. They would never be such good tennis players if they hadn’t had each other to compete against, says the Zaptec boss. Opening the door for the laid-off on 24 March, 138 of Easee’s employees were made redundant, as a direct consequence of the sales ban for the Swedes. – Is it relevant for Zaptec to employ these people? – We cannot take everyone in, but it is clear: As we grow, there is a need for good employees, and Easee has many good and competent employees, so it is clear that this is something we are looking at, says Bardenfleth-Hansen. CEO of Zaptec, Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen, with a brand new charging box straight from the assembly line at Westcontrol in Tau. Photo: Tom Edvindsen / news Zaptec currently has 160 employees in total. 80 of these work at the head office in Stavanger. The Zaptec manager emphasizes that part of the growth is also planned. – We have entered new markets in Germany, France, Benelux and Great Britain, he says. – Has Easee’s problem been a wake-up call for the industry? – One could perhaps say that. There has been a greater focus on looking at safety and in the various charging boxes. We welcome that, as we are, among other things, approved by the Swedish governing authorities. Easee founders Jonas Helmikstøl and Kjetil André Næsje worked at Zaptec until they broke away and formed Easee in 2018. The same applies to Fredrik Erland Lima. He helped establish Amina in 2021. According to Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen, there are actually only three charging companies in Norway: Zaptec, Easee and Amina – all based in Stavanger. – We have had very exciting growth in recent months and years. We launched in Norway last year and are taking market by market in the Nordics and Europe, says Lima, co-founder of Amina. Co-founder Fredrik Erland Lima in Amina shows one of the prototypes of the company’s charging box for electric cars. Photo: Arild Eskeland / news The demand for electric car chargers is increasing, according to Lima. The company has therefore just appointed a country manager in Sweden, after having received 250 search years. The plan is to have chargers ready for the Swedish market by autumn. – Is the Easee problem the reason why they are now betting? – No, this has been planned for a year and a half. Right from the start, we have had ambitions to invest internationally, says Lima.
ttn-69
Easee rival Zaptec has doubled the production of electric car chargers – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
