The New "Horizons" of Electric

In Europe, there has been a massive search for innovation in recent years, as highlighted by contributions to startups and innovation in past years. In particular, the most comprehensive project active on multiple fronts to date is Horizon, an initiative aimed at promoting research and innovation through public funding, with the largest funding program ever allocated in the Old Continent, with a budget of over 95 billion euros for the period 2021-2027.

The main objective is to support research and development in various sectors, including health, digitization, environment and energy, safety, and mobility. Nio's entry into the European program fits precisely into the field of mobility, particularly in energy storage systems for electric cars. But what is Nio? It is an automotive company born from an idea by William Li, often identified as the "Chinese Elon Musk," who started as the president of Bitauto, a company providing web services to Chinese car manufacturers, before founding the company in 2014. From the beginning, it has attracted significant investments and investors, such as Tencent, the Chinese Internet conglomerate that has also become the largest shareholder, going through Baidu, the Sequoia fund, Lenovo, and TPG.

The Chinese giant will carry out a three-year project started in January to explore the application of stationary hybrid energy storage and improve the performance of ultra-fast charging for electric vehicles, reducing the impact on the electrical grid. The research will also focus on portable chargers for electric vehicle mobility services, integrating photovoltaics into the charging infrastructure, and the application of second-life batteries. Many Italian entities, such as Samso, Reefilla, and the University Federico II, are joining forces with the Chinese company.

Reefilla is a young Turin-based startup that deals with on-demand charging wherever you are, without searching for charging stations, and has closed the first round of funding with one million euros. Samso studies renewable energy storage systems, and finally, the University of Naples Federico II (UniNA), founded in 1224, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the first at the state level.

While awaiting innovations in the sector, Edilfar Rent allows you to experience the pleasure of driving electric with a fleet of EV cars available for all your needs. Come to our locations or see the types of cars on our website.