Versluys Group is getting greener every day. This construction and property specialist, known for its stunning property development projects, has invested heavily in solar energy and electric mobility over the last couple of years. Recently, they invested in the installation of 20 Smappee charging stations. The installation at the Versluys Group offices was the very first project where the brand-new Smappee EV One was installed. “The elegant design, rapid communication, smart technology and effective back-end services of Smappee are important foundations for successful collaboration over the long term”, according to the firm’s Technical Director, Pol Marchand.
Versluys Group is a well-known in the world of luxury real estate projects. This family business develops and builds evocative projects which add personality to the skylines of cities such as Ostend, Bredene and Knokke-Heist. The firm’s 35-strong office team and 50-strong ground team literally and figuratively set the tone for the living comfort of the future. Sustainability continues to gain prominence in the firm’s work.
“Sustainability has become a priority in our company philosophy”, explained Pol Marchand. “As part of this, we’ve invested in heat pumps and solar panels for our offices. We’ve also completely replaced the original lighting in our workshop with LED lighting. We used the services of ExtraPower, a high-quality installation firm based in Beernem, to install the solar panels.”
Belgian identity
Versluys Group is also focusing on the electrification of its fleet. “Our aim is for all our employees to be driving fully electric company cars by mid-2024. This is why we were also looking for a high-quality supplier of charging stations.
After we compared suppliers, only one manufacturer completely met our requirements. The essential requirements for us were an attractive design, a Belgian identity and intelligent technology. Smappee stood head and shoulders above the rest.”
Versluys Group, highly rated the short lines of communication and innovative nature of this supplier Kortrijk based supplier. “Smappee’s CEO, Stefan Grosjean, even went to Versluys in person to pitch the new EV One. We loved this exclusive preview, particularly as the charging station is able to optimize the solar energy that we generate ourselves. In terms of its aesthetics, no other charging station came close to the sleek lines of this elegant, free-standing charger.”
“The elegant design, rapid communication, smart technology and effective back-end services of Smappee are important foundations for successful collaboration over the long term”
Pol Marchand, Technical Director at Versluys Group
Direct injection
In May 2023, ExtraPower installed 6 EV One and 2 EV Wall Lite charging stations in the car park at the Versluys Group Headquarters. The EV Wall Lite stations were intended for the directors of Versluys Group. Across the road, where Versluys Group has another site with parking facilities, 12 EV One stations were installed, 8 of which are reserved for the company’s employees. The other charging stations can also be used by the public.
“Smappee’s smart technology enables us to directly power electric vehicles using our own solar energy. This now means that we hardly have to feed back any power to the electricity grid.”
Initial impressions have also been overwhelmingly positive. “As we’re the first company where the new EV One has been installed, we did have a few compatibility hiccups in the beginning. But Smappee’s dispatching services quickly resolved any issues. These charging stations have a power output of 22 kW, which we put to optimal use, so vehicles can be fully charged in three or four hours. This high level of efficiency will also become increasingly important as more employees will be driving an electric vehicle.”
Detailed overview
Smappee’s CPO management dashboard has also added value. “Our employees can charge their vehicles for free at our premises. We encourage them to do that as often as possible as the electricity largely comes from the solar energy generated by ourselves. We will not be installing charging points at employee’s homes, but we have provided them with charging passes.
By using Smappee’s CPO platform, which we pay for on a monthly basis, we avoid the hassle of calculating the income streams when visitors or members of the public use our charging stations. Smappee simply deposits the money into our account at the end of the month. The Smappee dashboard also makes it easy to set and update pricing and provides a detailed, real-time overview of the usage of each charging station for each employee and external user, which is extremely handy.”
Energy sharing
Versluys Group also has an office on the Oosteroever of Ostend for its sales department. “We will be installing 5 EV Wall charging stations there as well. This model has an elegant compact design (30 x 30 cm) which suits us best.
We can also use solar energy from our two large office buildings to power the charging stations on this site thanks to the concept of energy sharing.”
Customer Versluys Group
Country Belgium
Industry Construction and real estate
Profile
Versluys Group is a family business that was established in 1908. This construction and real estate company is synonymous with high-quality, top-end property projects on the Belgian and Dutch coasts. The firm has strengthened its commitment to sustainability under the leadership of CEO Bart Versluys.
The challenge
Aesthetics are one of Versluys Group’s key values. This is why they looked for a supplier of charging stations with a minimalist and elegant design. The charging infrastructure also needed to connect directly to the solar panels that had been installed by ExtraPower at their offices. Versluys Group needed a powerful CPO platform as ten of the charging stations had to be accessible for visitors and external users.
The solution
Comparing the solutions, the new EV One charging station of Smappee was head and shoulders above the rest. Versluys Group installed 18 EV One and 2 EV Wall Lite (for the management) charging stations at its head office. Versluys commissioned ExtraPower for the installation work. ExtraPower always opt exclusively for Smappee products when installing charging stations.
The results
- The charging stations are powered directly by the solar panels
- A power output of 22 kW means considerably shorter charging times
- The stylish design of the EV One and EV Wall Lite charging stations align perfectly with Versluys Group
- The CPO management platform enables charging sessions for third parties to be billed and processed speedily
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