Video: ABB reveals ‘Terra Home’ EV charging

ABB e-mobility has announced its new residential AC charging solution Terra Home at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas from January 5-8.

Set to go on sale later this year, the Terra Home ushers in the next generation of consumer choice for residential EV charging, enabling users to make the best possible use of their renewable energy sources to further reduce their carbon footprint, says ABB.

By 2040, between 340 and 490 million chargers are needed globally, this figure dominated by home chargers, representing 82% of all EV charging installations, according to predictions.

A survey commissioned by ABB questioned 5500 drivers globally on their top priorities for 2023 and beyond, finding that sustainability ranks among their most important motivations.

About 90% of those surveyed said they felt a personal responsibility to make choices to help protect the planet for future generations.

This was reflected in the 86% of respondents who confirmed they will be taking action to reduce their travel emissions for the year ahead. Making the switch to an electric car ranked as one of the top eco-friendly changes being considered, alongside reducing private vehicle usage, and opting to increase public transport use.

“Offering unprecedented user choice, the new Terra Home provides the flexibility for an even greater number of people to simply and stylishly embrace the transition to electric mobility,” says ABB e-mobility destination charging business senior vice president Leon van de Pas.

With the ability to automatically prioritise electricity from renewable domestic sources, such as solar, ABB’s new Terra Home charging solution will particularly appeal to more than half of respondents (54%) who reported that they would be more likely to use an EV if they could ensure the electricity powering it had been generated renewably.

The Terra Home’s minimalistic design, choice of materials and options for personalised covers means it will fit seamlessly into a wide range of homes and lifestyles, says ABB.

Intelligent features such as Plug N Charge enable instant and automatic recognition between car and charger, making charging authorisation completely seamless. In addition, interactive lighting features indicate the state of the charging session, while notifications on charging status are easily accessible on the ABB e-mobility charger app which can also be used to authenticate a charge, ensuring that the owner alone can connect to their Terra Home.

Cloud connection between the Terra Home and ABB e-mobility enables an experienced team to remotely service the charger quickly and efficiently, while remote firmware updates will ensure a futureproof experience, with users always benefitting from the latest charging features, says ABB.

The new ABB e-mobility charger sync app for EV drivers and Terra config app for installers are due to be launched in Q1 2023.

Meanwhile, graphic processing unit (GPU) manufacturer Nvidia has also announced new products, participation and offerings – including automotive – at CES 2023.

Its high-performance gaming service GeForce will be coming to cars beginning with Hyundai, BYD and Polestar.

Nvidia is partnering with Foxconn to build automated EVs, while Mercedes-Benz is assembling next generation factories with Nvidia Omniverse and will use Nvidia’s technology for vehicle assembly and production planning.

This allows Mercedes-Benz to reduce waste, decrease energy consumption and enhance quality.