Audi dealerships to provide EV charging

Audi New Zealand and ABB New Zealand will offer charging points in Audi authorised dealerships nationwide.

Designed to align with the arrival of the electric Audi e-tron in New Zealand, the charging stations will offer both AC and DC, including 50kW and 175kW fast charging.

ABB has more than 12,500 fast charging stations installed in 70 countries. It offers some of the most powerful charging station available.

Audi has chosen to go with the ABB Terra 54 charger as a base, offering a 50kW DC charger which delivers 400km charge in two hours.

A small number of Audi dealerships will be installing the ABB Terra HP high power charging units. These are 175kW DC chargers, enabling the Audi e-tron to be charged up to 80% in less than 40 minutes.

The e-tron SUV is the first fully electric vehicle from Audi which will utilise this charging infrastructure.

With more than 400km range from its 95kWh battery, the Audi e-tron has two electric motors with a total output of 300kW and 664Nm of torque and can get to 100km/h in 5.7 seconds.

It is the first series production vehicle that can charge at fast charging stations with direct current (DC) at up to 150kW and can also be charged at home using normal 240 volt AC power in a “top up“ scenario.

On June 6, hundreds of professionals from utilities, industry and transportation and infrastructure sectors at the ABB Technology Summit at the SkyCity Convention Centre in Auckland got a first look at the Audi e-tron prior to its launch later that evening.

It was hooked up to ABB’s new high-power charger which has charging power available from 175kW up to 350kW – a first of its kind for ABB in New Zealand.

“Being able to offer our customers world class levels of charging capabilities is part of the premium customer support we have in place for our Audi e-tron customers,” Audi New Zealand general manager Dean Sheed says.

“We expect other brands to follow our lead, thereby raising the charging capability for the country and keeping us at a world class level.”

ABB New Zealand managing director Ewan Morris says ABB is proud to partner with Audi in New Zealand to provide the latest EV charging technology.

The companies will showcase their technology together at EVworld NZ from August 9-11 at the ASB Showgrounds, Auckland.

Visit www.audi.co.nz/e-tron for more information.