Megawatt charging for trucks, marine and aviation

High-power megawatt charging is expected soon for Kiwi e-trucks, e-ferries and e-aircraft.

Next year should see mass production of Megawatt Charging Systems (MCS) start for land transport, marine and aviation applications, a Drive Electric webinar on MCS heard.

Robots will be able to plug-in often cooled cables in situations where safety and weight issues may arise for humans, webinar attendees learned.

It’s expected MCS could reach six megawatts or more with further development of extreme-MCS (X-MCS) technology underway initially, aimed at charging large mining haul trucks.

Auckland e-ferries will be among the first to use MCS ­- EVs and Beyond previously featuring stories on Auckland ferry MCS charging, with quick recharging planned between trips.

CharIN Australia New Zealand managing director Liz Yeaman – among key speakers in the webinar, says Wellington already has an e-ferry operating and plans to use a shore-based battery energy storage system (BESS) as well.

Other speakers included ABB Marine and Ports ferries segment manager Palemia Field (ABB, Finland), extreme high-power charging company Grivix (Switzerland) chief executive Marc-Andre Beck and Singer Electric NZ representative Hayden Dooney.

Singer Electric and ABB are working on Auckland ferries MCS charging with Auckland Transport (AT) and expect charging points will be at key stops including the Port of Auckland main wharves.

Global standards for MCS charging are being developed.

Auckland’s first electric tug “Sparky” was mentioned.

CharIN’s new Marine Task Force is about to commence work to optimise MCS for the marine sector.
Global standards for MCS charging are being finalised.
Beck says MCS will have fast-charging standards for marine applications such as e-ferries, aviation and transport – especially long-haul e-trucks.