Germany-based electric charging infrastrucure provider JOLT Energy Ltd and US-based AECOM, a leading infrastructure consulting firm, have announced an agreement to deploy ultra-fast charging stations in major European and North American urban centres.

Under the agreement, JOLT will manufacture the charging stations and operate the network, while AECOM will develop and execute an international roll-out plan, including programme management, site development, equipment deployment, commissioning and field services.

JOLT anticipates deploying up to 15,000 chargers in 250 urban centres through to 2025, split equally between Europe and North America. It will focus on JOLT’s Merlin ultra-fast flexible charger, which can be used in ‘virtually any environment’; it was designed and developed specifically for city charging situations, where the existing electricity grid makes the provision of DC fast-charging extremely challenging.

The companies will collaborate to define a ‘roadmap for the deployments’, taking into account e-mobility penetration in the various urban markets, as well as the availability of sites, local commercial and municipal support.

Jeff Woodward, AECOM’s global market sector leader (next generation energy), said: “As a leading advisor to our clients on advancing new strategies to address their ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) priorities, we are delivering services and innovative solutions to enable energy transitions around the world.

“The agreement with JOLT brings our global programme management capabilities with local market knowledge to efficiently and effectively deploy JOLT’s urban rapid-charge solutions with less impact to local electric grids. The success of e-mobility will largely depend on the availability of convenient and accessible fast charging.”