EV charging nearly as fast as refuelling

Charging electric vehicles may soon be as quickly completed as filling up with fuel is today, thanks to an interim result from the “FastCharge” research project.

The research consortium presented a prototype for a charging station with an output of up to 450kW in Jettingen-Scheppach, near the A8 motorway between Ulm and Augsburg.

The two Jettinger charging stations are available for use with all combined charging system (CCS) enabled vehicles, free.

Fast, convenient charging solutions increase the attractiveness of electromobility.

And increasing the available charging capacity to up to 450kW allows charging times to be significantly reduced.

The charging capacity of the new FastChargers is three to nine times as high as what is possible with DC rapid-charging stations.

The “FastCharge” project examines what technical conditions need to be fulfilled in terms of vehicles and infrastructure in order to allow extremely high charging capacities to be applied.

Depending on the model of vehicle, the new ultra-fast charging station can be used for vehicles with 400-volt and those with 800-volt battery systems. In each case the charging capacity provided automatically adjusts to the vehicle’s maximum permitted charging capacity.

The Porsche research vehicle can achieve a charging capacity of 400kW initially – a first for a passenger car, Porsche says.

An innovative cooling system makes this possible, by ensuring even, gentle temperature control in the battery cells.

Porsche is set to invest more than 6 billion euros in electric mobility by 2022, targeting both plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles. This means the company has more than doubled its previously planned expenditure for electromobility. Of the additional 3 billion euros, around 500 million euros will be used to develop the models and versions in the Taycan range.

Porsche will also be investing around 1 billion euros in the electrification and hybridisation of its existing product range, hundreds of millions in the expansion of its sites, and around 700 million euros in new technologies, charging infrastructure and smart mobility.