Helion Energy AG is one of Switzerland's most innovative energy solution companies. Started in 2008 as a two-man operation, Helion has since become part of the AMAG Group and employs over 500 staff. Remo Mucha, Head of E-Mobility at Helion, explains to us in conversation the role simplee plays in Helion's big plans.
Remo, you've been with Helion for just over 5 years. If someone had shown you Helion today back in 2018, what would your reaction have been?
In 2018, we already had high ambitions, but what happened was hardly predictable. We've built up two entirely new trades with heat pumps and charging stations, and we've changed ownership twice in these 5 years. Now, we've reached the intersection of mobility and energy and still have much ahead. For me, it's been an ideal development, as I enjoy dealing with new things and change.
Electric mobility might be the most visible part of your business in everyday life: buses are being electrified, the share of BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles) is steadily increasing, and charging stations have become ubiquitous in public areas. What significance does electric mobility have in Helion's strategy?
This question can be answered quite clearly on one hand: Around one third of all vehicles registered in Switzerland come from AMAG. The key to electrifying these vehicles lies in the charging stations. Thus, the electric mobility sector is the interface that connects the two sectors of mobility and energy. For this reason, electric mobility is enormously important for Helion.
Bidirectional charging is currently a hot topic, yet there are various hurdles that complicate its widespread application. From your perspective, what is still missing before we will see bidirectional charging become widespread?
I wished that this development would have progressed faster; unfortunately, there are delays on various fronts. Currently, there are still no standardized cost-effective charging stations available. On the other hand, the automotive industry is only cautiously implementing the standards, and announcements still dominate. Nonetheless, I am convinced that we will see enormous progress in this area in the next 3 years, and bidirectional charging will then become standard.
You also rely on Easee's charging solutions. What do you see as the biggest advantages of this solution?
This solution makes it very easy to prepare underground garages for electromobility thanks to the quick-to-install backplate system. As far as I know, another unique advantage is that the backplate can be pre-programmed. This makes scaling less error-prone and, above all, very quick and cost-effective, as the Chargeberry can simply be clicked into the pre-programmed backplate. The scalability means that the supply of charging stations can be adapted very easily to the respective demand. This simplicity and the strong price-performance ratio make the Easee solution extremely popular with us.
How do simplee's services help you achieve your goals/mission?
simplee has been able to ensure the availability of charging stations even when everyone was dealing with supply shortages. This allowed us to continue serving our customers. We can always rely on simplee to train our staff or when something doesn't go as planned, we are quickly supported to complete our installations on time.
If you could have one wish for simplee, what would it be?
With regard to Easee, it would be great if the ESTI could complete its documentation review soon. As simplee, we hope that you will be able to maintain your family atmosphere even during your considerable growth. We sense that your company culture is something special. And if I may make a not entirely altruistic wish, it would be that you soon find more multilingual employees for French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino.
(Addendum by simplee from February 2024: Some wishes do come true! With Alessandro and Stefan, we now have two more employees who can look after our partners in Italian and French).
