We spoke with Ekoenergtyka co-founder Maciej Wojenski about Poland’s challenging e-mobility and infrastructure market, where Eko’s positioning is taking on a whole new spin lately. Just this much – buses won’t be the company’s primary business for much longer.
First to Poland, where 150,00 electric vehicles share around 2,000 charge points, according to Maciej Wojenski. Ekoenergetyka saw this potential as early as 2009 when Wojenski and Bartosz Kubik founded the business out of an academic research project. They now employ around 1,000 people and claim 20% of Europe’s charging stations for municipal buses. In Poland, the share is 80%, with so-called Ultrachargers offering power outputs between 750 kW and 1.5 MW. Public transport, says Wojenski, was Poland’s way into removing emissions from the city centres. Battery-electric buses remain at Eko’s core, he adds, since the segment requires a “high level of engineering and customisation,” which the firm acquired over the years. “We still have it in our DNA.”
At the same time, Eko realised the city bus segment was “somehow limited in Europe” and Wojenski reveals moving into the passenger EV segment and, more so, electric trucks. “We see, we can scale up our business, especially in the segment related to public charging of passenger EVs and, after that, trucks.”
For this, the company wants to address heavy-duty OEMs directly. “We are looking very much into the electrification of e-trucks,” says the co-founder
The movement has not gone unnoticed. In September, the company revealed a powerful partnership with Ionity and three other consumer-facing businesses. The co-founder also mentions PKN Orlen, Poland’s most prominent company in the fuel sector, which has worked with Eko on DC charging early on. “We are shaping our strategy more and more for passenger EVs,” yet it was also “tough business to become a supplier for the CPOs,” he says.
At least at home, Ekoenergetyka claims 80% of the HPC market since it established its own network, Ekoen, in 2021.
Wojenski still welcomes other CPOs in Poland since any market entry means “we can supply them with our hardware, our charging stations.”
Said hardware is produced locally. Ekoenergetyka manufactures roughly 10,000 chargers annually, says the co-founder, and points to Eko’s 2,000 sqm facility, about 200 kilometres from Berlin. But, so Wojenski, “We will reach close to 30,000 chargers a year in the near future” through optimisation and expansion.
The end-to-end production is one USP, he mentions, including mechanical, electrical and software engineering. “We also invest 50 million euros in our own laboratory.” The R&D centre includes testing facilities from EMC over noise.
In terms of positioning, Wojenski took the question literally: “We are able to deliver high-quality products to Western Europe and the CE regions” – so far.
The founder revealed a future where Ekoenergetyka is “among the top players, not only in Europe but also worldwide”. Here, Wojenski kept the best secret for last – Eko’s US expansion is in the pipeline and should take no less than two years.
At least at home, Ekoenergetyka claims 80% of the HPC market since it established its own network, Ekoen, in 2021.
Wojenski still welcomes other CPOs in Poland since any market entry means “we can supply them with our hardware, our charging stations.”
Said hardware is produced locally. Ekoenergetyka manufactures roughly 10,000 chargers annually, says the co-founder, and points to Eko’s 2,000 sqm facility, about 200 kilometres from Berlin. But, so Wojenski, “We will reach close to 30,000 chargers a year in the near future” through optimisation and expansion.
The end-to-end production is one USP, he mentions, including mechanical, electrical and software engineering. “We also invest 50 million euros in our own laboratory.” The R&D centre includes testing facilities from EMC over noise.
In terms of positioning, Wojenski took the question literally: “We are able to deliver high-quality products to Western Europe and the CE regions” – so far.
The founder revealed a future where Ekoenergetyka is “among the top players, not only in Europe but also worldwide”. Here, Wojenski kept the best secret for last – Eko’s US expansion is in the pipeline and should take no less than two years.
Interview by Carla Westerheide at IAA Mobility, Munich.