28 SIEIL also recently purchased “the wall,” Ensto’s Chago product which features two charging poles with an information screen between them. The screen won’t be used for advertising, but rather for tourism management: to highlight all the UNESCO treasures. There will be information about the Loire valley, location of bicycle roads, where to drink wine, visit castles. The first wall will be installed in Chinon, home of the president of SIEIL, Jean-Luc Dupont, who is also Chinon’s mayor. Multi-use In building an argument to place a 21st century charging pole in a village with history dating back to the fifth century (as in Chinon), it’s helpful if you can go beyond pretty. The idea of the coffre marché came from France's first love: wine. Ménard, Balpe, and Dupont, drinking wine from Dupont’s vineyard, experienced a Eureka moment where someone asked, "Hey, why doesn’t something like this exist?" The "something" in this case was a "coffre marché," a market box, which could be connected to an Ensto EV charging pole in order to provide eight 16-amp sockets and two 32-amp circuits for market vendors. This would save municipali-ties the expense of hiring an electrician anytime the village hosted a market or threw a community party. "When you put something on the street the object should have a minimum of two uses," says Balpe. "This is not a law, but rather a mindset of SIEIL." “SIEIL dreamt it and then asked Ensto to develop and patent it,” says Ensto’s Sales Manager Jérôme Perdu. So far 50 units have been manufac-tured. At the moment, SIEIL gives them free to vil-lages who request them, but an economic model for it is in development. ‘We see the growth’ While in many parts of France EVs are yet to take hold, the 37th Department sees them not as the future but the present. “We see the growth,” says Balpe. “Two years ago, there were 16 EVs in the department. One year later we had 37 more. This year there are 97 more EVs. We’ve given out 400 RFID cards, and 30 percent of card users don’t live in the union’s area.” What works well is popular. In France, goods made in Finland have a similar quality reputation to goods made in Germany. Says Balpe: “When you use this product in Finland with a lot of snow, and minus-40 temperatures, then you can be sure it will work well in France.” It’s worked so well that there is a Tesla driver who’s brought local fame to Ensto. The driver finds Ensto poles superior to the Tesla system and likes to stop along his journey and charge in the 37th department. “It’s in the small village Perrusson,” says Ménard of the 1,500-population commune. “So he really stands out!” "SIEIL dreamt it and then asked Ensto to develop and patent it." JÉRÔME PERDU, ENSTO SALES MANAGER ON THE MARKET BOX The Market Box If you throw a grand party in the village square, invite the whole town, it would be nice to have electricity. But before the Coffre Marché, the market box, an electrician had to be hired to install temporary sockets. The market box enables the instant conversion of an Ensto charging pole to eight 16-amp sockets plus two 32-amp circuits. This can power a small farmers’ market, or supply all the electrical needs of a community event. The need was identified by SIEIL’s management team, and Ensto was asked to design, manufacture, and patent the device. The market box is an attractive product for Ensto’s port-folio, but in the bigger picture it serves as a good argument for Ensto poles. Not only do you get an aesthetically pleasing device, but the charging pole actually helps bring the community together. ensto today | CASE
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