Electric car drivers will be able to travel more confidently around Suvalkija, and Marijampolė residents will be able to conveniently charge their electric vehicles at as many as 22 Ignitis ON charging points throughout the city. Ignitis, which operates Ignitis ON, the largest fast-charging network for electric vehicles in Lithuania, and Marijampolė Municipality have signed an agreement on installation of electric vehicle charging points at ten places across the city.
According to Eimantas Balta, the Head of the Electric Mobility Department at Ignitis, Marijampolė, located in the south-western Lithuania, has long been lacking a more attentive approach to the convenience of electric vehicle drivers, and the tender procedure won by Ignitis and the contract with the city municipality for installation of 22 electric vehicle charging points, which equates to 11 charging stations, is an important and welcome news for both the city's residents and those travelling towards this direction.
"Although the contract stipulates that the charging points must be installed within 24 months from the signature of the contract, we expect to have electric vehicles in Marijampolė available for charging at our points within the next 12 months. The installation of the charging points will not cost the municipality anything, as all the investment belongs to our company," commented E. Balta, the representative of Ignitis.
Gintautas Bulkevičius, the representative of the Environment and Infrastructure Department of the Marijampolė Municipality Administration, said that more opportunities to charge an electric vehicle, modern technology of electric vehicle charging stations and access points will contribute to the image of the city, encourage citizens to choose electric vehicles, encourage travelling electric vehicle drivers to choose Marijampolė as a tourist destination, and for those travelling to neighbouring Poland it will be more convenient, with more opportunities to charge their electric vehicles on the road.
E. Balta, speaking about the value of electromobility, reminds us that the future of transport is electric. And every kilometre driven by an electric vehicle charged on the Ignitis ON network is zero-emission, as all the electricity used for charging is generated from renewable sources. According to Ignitis, the installation of charging points encourages people to be more courageous in choosing electric vehicles.
The electric vehicle fleet in our country has been growing very rapidly in recent years, with a total of 11,500 real electric vehicles in Lithuania, and a 67% increase in the electric vehicle fleet last year alone, so the future for electromobility looks really optimistic. Although Regitra reports that only 120 electric vehicles are registered in Marijampolė today, the convenient and well-developed charging infrastructure will inspire more drivers to switch to electric vehicles, especially given that it is not only more environmentally friendly, but also a more cost-effective choice in the long run. Electricity is already cheaper than conventional fuels and is likely to become even cheaper in the future thanks to the rapid development of renewable energy sources.
Ignitis ON charging points in Marijampolė will be located at the following addresses: Laisvės str., Palangos str. 1, Jaunimo str. 6, Uosupio str., Varpo str., Kauno str., Vytauto str. 32, Stoties str. 2, P. Arminas str. 92, Sporto str. 1.
Depending on the location, some of the charging points will be fast charging, i.e. 60 kW - 8 points in total, and slow charging, i.e. 22 kW - 14 bays in total.
By 2026, Ignitis ON will have installed up to 3,000 electric vehicle charging points in all Baltic States. Currently, Ignitis ON has more than 330 charging points in its network, including 12 charging points in Latvia.
