Truck charging specialist Milence is expanding into Italy. The joint venture between Daimler Truck, Traton and the Volvo Group has announced a charging hub for electric trucks south of Verona. The site is due to open in the third quarter of this year.

The new charging hub will now be the southernmost location to date; specifically, the charging park is being built in Bagnolo San Vito in the province of Mantua. The location is around 40 kilometres south of Verona near the A22 – also known as the Brennero motorway (“Autostrada del Brennero”).

Milence describes the motorway as an important north-south axis for the European economy. “The A22 is a key highway in Italy that connects the Po Valley (a significant industrial and agricultural area), the city of Modena, and the Autostrada A1 to Austria.” The area also serves as an important entry point into the country, linking the industrial centres of northern Italy with the southern Italian ports and thus connecting major cities such as Milan, Rome and Naples.

Milence is proceeding in the same way as with most of the previously communicated locations when setting up the charging hub: CCS chargers will be installed first and MCS chargers will be added to the park later. In the first phase, four CCS chargers with up to 400 kW will be installed in Bagnolo San Vito to supply five charging bays. In a second phase, further charging bays with megawatt chargers are planned. As usual, “additional amenities for lorry drivers” are also to be created at the site.

Milence CEO Anja Niersen: “This hub is the perfect location to kick-off our network roll-out in Italy, and will become a key node along the north-south transport corridor that is vital for European commerce.”

Milence has the ambitious goal of setting up at least 1,700 high-power charging points across Europe by 2027. Three locations have been opened so far: in Venlo (Netherlands), Heudebouville (France) and the port of Antwerp-Bruges (Belgium).