Now, ultra-fast charging truly connects Northern Italy to European corridors.

Four high-power charging stations in northern Italy have changed owners. E.ON Drive Infrastructure Italy has acquired 100% of SMATRICS EnBW Italia and integrated 64 Ultra-Fast charging points into its network along two of Europe’s busiest transport corridors.

The hubs are located in Brixen-Vahrn in South Tyrol, along the Brenner corridor; in Palmanova in Udine province, on the Alpine-Adriatic corridor; in Gruaro between highways A28 and A4; and in Trezzo sull’Adda, serving the Milan area. They are already operational and connected to Europe’s TEN-T transport network, a trans-European transportation network established by the European Union to link the continent’s key nodes.

Where are the new charging stations

The Brixen-Vahrn site has 20 Ultra-Fast charging points and is located on the Brenner axis, one of the busiest routes between Italy and Central Europe. Palmanova has 12 points along the Alpine-Adriatic corridor. Gruaro and Trezzo sull’Adda each offer 16 charging points, the former situated between highways A28 and A4, and the latter along A4 near Milan.

According to E.ON Drive Infrastructure, these sites have substantial electrical capacity. This is sufficient for current Ultra-Fast charging needs but also leaves room to add new stations or upgrade the technology of existing facilities in the future.

A network expanding along European corridors

E.ON Drive Infrastructure (EDRI) is the pan-European operator of charging infrastructure for Germany’s energy group E.ON. It operates in 11 European countries and manages over 10,000 public charging points, with more than 200 employees working in this sector. In Italy, it develops and operates high-power public charging stations along major road corridors, an initiative already highlighted by these new highway chargers owned by the group.

E.ON Driver Booster

This is not an isolated case in the industry. Other energy companies have also chosen acquisitions to accelerate growth in public charging, such as Eni’s purchase of Be Charge to gain access to an existing network rather than building one from scratch.

"Acquiring SMATRICS EnBW Italia represents a strategic step in E.ON Drive Infrastructure Italy’s growth trajectory. By integrating these hubs into our network, we strengthen our presence along Europe’s key traffic corridors," said Michele De Gaspari, Regional Director Southern Europe at E.ON Drive Infrastructure.

For now, the four hubs remain in the same locations with the same capacity as reported at the time of acquisition. There is room for expansion in terms of both the number of charging stations and the technology installed, but no dates have been announced for any upgrades at these sites.

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