Power2Drive 2024: Zaptec presents the new Go 2

At the Zaptec booth, Sophie Kloten, Senior Marketing Manager at Zaptec, was already expecting us to explain the new Go2. Interesting: On several pedestals, Zaptec subtly showcased different versions for Germany, France, and the UK. "Unfortunately, each country still has its own preferences," Kloten explains: Germany and Austria need compliance with calibration law, the UK requires slightly different connections and seals, and so on – which makes it all the more important to work towards the standardized EU box in the future.

Important: The integration of V2G and the solar system

But back to the Go 2: It fundamentally retains the compact, minimalist appearance of the Go, is MID-certified, and offers a comprehensive hardware upgrade. According to Kloten, the target is primarily operators of solar systems, as the function updates include, among other things, a 1/3-phase switching and solar integration, in addition to native OCPP for CPOs and integrated 4G LTE communication. And, looking ahead, it is equally important, according to Kloten: That the Go 2 also supports AC Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) to enable bidirectional charging. By complying with the upcoming ISO 15118-20 and edition 4 of IEC 61851-1, Zaptec Go 2 can communicate with the vehicle and turn the electric car into an energy storage device. "Although this isn't happening immediately, it will become inevitable in the future – to really be able to use the vehicles for grid stabilization one day," Kloten explains.

The simple installation was also demonstrated at Power2Drive

Other pressing topics, according to her, remain the simple installation in multi-family homes, which was once again demonstrated with the well-known "charging bar": Here, various charging points can be pre-installed, and the customer only needs to place their charging station on the rail when needed, which requires very little effort. Here, Zaptec was among the first to basically "disassemble" the wallbox into three parts: The power feed – usually the most complex and expensive. The back panel – the cheapest, as it is only a "placeholder" for the wallbox, and the device itself, which can then simply be "screwed" onto this placeholder when needed – which then takes just a matter of minutes. A trend that, according to our observation of Power2Drive 2024, other manufacturers are now also following.

Also heavily trending: Company car charging: With the integrated display and MID certification, company car drivers can easily account for the energy consumed, while automatic phase switching integrates sustainable charging with solar power. Of course, there's always a bit of "trickery," Kloten understands the practice, but if the backend of the company car user always showed extremely high electricity costs for low mileage, it would immediately stand out. Besides, the MID-certified measuring system is supposed to guarantee accurate energy measurement.