Landrins Bil, founded in 1968, is one of Sweden's oldest car dealers. They are agents for Mercedes-Benz cars and authorized dealers for Mercedes-Benz vans, Nissan, Subaru, Kia, Peugeot, Citroën, Isuzu, ORA, Kabe, Adria and Sun Living. Landrins sells, services and repairs passenger cars, vans, caravans and motorhomes.
Landrins Bil has facilities in nine different locations, and a total of 15 facilities.
The company is now taking a step into the future and establishing charging infrastructure at its sites across the country. In total, they are in the process of establishing charging infrastructure in nine locations, a total of 78 charging outlets, of which 28 are DC and 50 are AC. The investments are made in Västervik, Vimmerby W, Lund, Avesta, Västerås Fältmätargatan, Västerås Fallskärmsvägen, Sundsvall & Eskilstuna.
In connection with Svensk Fordonsladdning AB commissioning the first charger in Västerås, we asked the company's CEO Kenneth Landrin some questions about the extensive investment.
What proportion of the cars you sell today run on pure electric power and what proportion do you estimate it will be in five years?
In the last twelve months, sales of electric cars have increased by a whopping 45%
The share of rechargeable cars sold at the time of writing is 64%. Our assessment is that within 5 years it will be 100%.
How has the end of the climate bonus for electric cars affected their sales?
There was an abrupt drop in sales of electric cars immediately when the announcement was made that the climate bonus would be phased out. However, our assessment is that the decrease is not only about the climate bonus being phased out, but that the world situation with associated inflation has an impact on sales right now. Slowly but surely, however, we notice that customers are coming back and that sales of electric cars are increasing again.
-What is the demand for charging at your sites today compared to a few years ago?
There is of course a significant increase in demand that comes with the transition to electric power. There are still very few public charging points in the cities compared to the demand and the avalanche of electric vehicles. We feel that it is a business to be at the forefront and that it is important to support the expansion of the charging infrastructure through investments in public charging points at our own facilities. We have high demands on our organization from the general agents to become climate neutral. A major focus for us is to follow our general agents' net zero strategy. A major part of our sustainability work is to accelerate the transition from internal combustion engines to electricity.
-Not all car dealers are yet as advanced as Landrins is with the investment in charging infrastructure at your facilities, do you see a future competitive advantage in this?
Absolutely! We are increasing our outreach to external customers, we can also offer framework charging agreements to corporate customers in the regions we operate in.
-As you say above, you will also offer public charging points at your sites. Do you see that this will be a sound business in the long run?
Yes, we believe that the demand for public charging points is already high and will grow over time. The number of electric vehicles in the country is increasing like wildfire and the expansion of the charging infrastructure is not happening at the same pace. In terms of infrastructure, it will take time to establish vehicle charging in cities in line with overall demand, this is our way of helping.
-Svensk Fordonsladdning offers complete operation and maintenance agreements on charging stations, how does such an agreement facilitate your business?
It is both easier and safer not to have to think about operation and maintenance yourself. It is important for us to avoid downtime at our charging stations and it is therefore a prerequisite that we regularly maintain them according to the manufacturer's recommendations. It is also a requirement that service work must be carried out by certified service technicians, which feels safe to have directly via Svensk Fordonsladdning, which has a whole organization with expertise in this.
-Why did you choose Svensk Fordonsladdning?
The fact that they take care of the entire design offers good overall solutions.
The transition is currently moving at record speed and the Government's goal is to make Sweden one of the world's first fossil-free welfare countries. Among other things, it offers “Klimatklivet”, which is an investment subsidy that supports the expansion of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. The support makes it possible to invest in fossil-free future technology and green transition and can provide up to 70% of the investment cost. Svensk Fordonsladdning assisted in the application for support via Klimatklivet regarding the charging stations to be used as public charging points, is it valuable to get help with the whole, all the way from the application for support to operation & maintenance?
Yes, it was valuable, it is an extensive and relatively complex process to establish fast charging and we felt it was nice to be able to work with the same partner throughout the journey who has experience and expertise in the field.
Have you gathered any experience to share with other companies that want to invest in charging infrastructure?
Absolutely. One of the challenges to bear in mind is that it takes time and can be costly to get the power to the plants and that the power cabinets may be undersized compared to what is needed. It is important to be out in good time to be able to create the right conditions once you start establishing.
The brands for which you are an agent/dealer are at the forefront of electric vehicles. Is Landrin's extensive investment in charging infrastructure directly adjacent to the facilities also important to them?
Yes, of course. It is important both for us and our general agents that we can offer our customers a good overall package that is up to date.
Landrins has chosen the Vourity payment solution for the public charging points, why?
It contains everything needed to make a flexible and hassle-free payment, which is important to us. Rechargers don't need any more apps, different recharge cards or subscriptions. Chargers simply choose the payment method that suits you best, whether it's by bank or credit card, Apple or Google Pay, Swish or Vipps.
Is investing in charging infrastructure a way to offer your customers a complete package?
Yes, absolutely. In the past, some car dealers offered refueling stations at their premises. We are now moving into the future and offering the highest level of charging infrastructure, with the easiest possible payment solutions.
Please contact the undersigned for more information.
Lennart Nilsson
Operativ Chef, Svensk Fordonsladdning AB
073-593 71 80
lennart.nilsson@svenskfordonsladdning.se
Kenneth Landrin
VD, Landrins Bil AB
021-17 00 83
kla@landrinsbil.se
