Siemens and Nexii Announce Partnership for EV Charging Prototype to Enable Faster EV Infrastructure Deployment
February 25, 2022
Siemens and Nexii Building Solutions Inc. have unveiled a new sustainable EV charging prototype, developed and patented for charging large numbers of electric vehicles in outdoor environments. Built using Nexii’s sustainable building material, Nexiite, and developed in a modular design, this prototype makes installing EV chargers faster, more cost-effective, and with reduced impacts to the environment.
The prototype was rapidly conceived and developed in partnership with Siemens and Nexii in six months, from ideation to implementation. Installation of the prototype was in only three days at Siemens’ Research & Development hub for Electrical Products and eMobility solutions.
Created using Nexii’s ground-breaking building material, Nexiite, which has comparable properties to concrete with significantly less embodied carbon, the weather-resistant design can be used in environments from small office building parking lots to a football stadium.
Nexiite was used to create the vertical structure to support Siemens Sentron™ Busway systems that connect to power the EV chargers. The charging infrastructure is cast directly into Nexiite. The busway power distribution equipment is manufactured at Siemens 540-person manufacturing hub in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Not only is the use of Nexiite reducing the environmental impacts of the EV unit, but the above ground design also allows for minimal disruption to land and environment. On-site construction waste, excavation, and groundwork – all with potential ecosystem disturbances – are near-zero with the Siemens-Nexii EV unit. There are also substantial reductions in required labour and significantly minimized potential safety issues with the rapid assembly, modular design.
“With the ever-increasing demand for EV infrastructure across the United States and beyond, we recognize a real need for fast deployment, scalability, easy upkeep, and reliability,” said John DeBoer, Head of Siemens eMobility, North America. “I’m proud of the work being done with our partner Nexii and our team in Georgia, a state recognized as a growing national hub for electrified transport innovation. We are continuing to develop and deploy the infrastructure that will enable our country to embrace EVs at scale. Technologies like this system are proof a nationwide EV network isn’t out of reach, and we’re helping make it a reality.”
“Construction and transportation are two of the biggest sources of carbon emissions driving climate change today,” says Stephen Sidwell, co-founder and CEO of Nexii. “Bringing together Siemens and Nexii demonstrates the power of rapid ideation and development of solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems. We’re excited to unveil this initial EV Charger prototype and look forward to even more innovations we can make working together.”
The co-patented design combines Nexii’s sustainable building products and rapid delivery of green buildings with Siemens’ expertise in residential and commercial chargers, charging depots for commercial fleets, and infrastructure systems to power electrified bus lines.
Siemens and Nexii announced their corporate partnership in September 2021 as part of Nexii’s integrated technology partner program. This is the first announcement of their combined product development going to market, with several other collaboration announcements expected to come in 2022 and 2023.
