News

ABB E-mobility Delivers Its Millionth EV Charger

Continued growth has been facilitated by doubling production capacity after the launch of the company’s new DC fast charger facility in Valdarno, Italy.

Published

4 years ago

January 31, 2023

Nour Nasir

abb e-mobility delivers its millionth ev charger

ABB

ABB is a leader in electrification and automation solutions and has just announced the delivery of its millionth electric vehicle charger — the latest milestone in the company’s ongoing mission to create an emission-free future using smart and reliable EV charging solutions.

ABB currently boasts a presence in over 85 markets. After the launch of the company’s new $30 million, 16,000 squared meter production facility in Valdarno, Italy, production capacity has doubled over the last two years. The cutting-edge manufacturing plant recently set a new benchmark for the EV sector, producing a fast charger unit every 20 minutes, thanks to the high-tech factory’s seven simultaneous production lines.

abb e-mobility ev charger factory

“While our continual investment in research and development shows our ongoing commitment to enhance the field of e-mobility, the global delivery of these solutions at scale is integral to the realization of our goals. I want to thank our customers globally for their continued collaboration in hitting this one millionth charger milestone. I look forward to the millions yet to come, and to the cleaner, greener world they will help create,” says Frank Mühlon, ABB E-mobility CEO.

In the United Arab Emirates, ABB has installed over 80 fast and high-power DC charging stations, making it one of the largest projects from a single brand in the region. The biggest station is in Yas, Abu Dhabi, and offers 20 DC fast and high-power chargers for owners of emissions-free vehicles.

Also Read: Best Video Streaming Services In The Middle East

“We are proud that ABB chargers are today powering electric vehicles across strategic locations in the country, including the sites of the Dubai Utility provider, DEWA, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. Most of the car manufacturers and dealers in the UAE have ABB chargers in their showrooms and as well as car parking areas. We are confident ABB’s technical know-how, products, and research in the field of E-Mobility will continue to support the decision-makers in the Middle East to drive the transition to an emission-free future,” says Ahmed Abdu, E-mobility division lead, MENA region.

In addition to its Italian facility, ABB E-mobility has continued its global expansion. Earlier this month, the company announced a new United States facility that will eventually turn out over 10,000 chargers per year for the public sector, providing power to school buses and other fleets. As well as expansion into the USA, ABB E-mobility’s stake in Chinese charging provider, Chargedot, opens up another lucrative market for the EV charging giant.

News

Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict

Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2026

Nour Nasir

Microsoft

Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.

“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.

The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.

Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.

Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.

So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.