Next step in fast charging: 1000 kW
Normal wallboxes for charging electric cars overnight typically have a charging capacity of 22 kW, while DC fast charging stations today reach 350 kW, in extreme cases. With its development project, the TH Lübeck is now going far beyond these limits – the scientists want to offer a charging station with an output of 1000 kW. The special feature: The combination of an e-charging station and a buffer storage unit is intended to relieve the electricity grid and could be used as a temporary storage facility for renewable energies.
The scientists behind the fast-charging technology are Dr. Roland Tiedemann, Professor of Power Electronics, and his team around research assistant Clemens Kerssen and many students. Their goal is to technically design a charging station in such a way that several electric vehicles can be charged simultaneously and quickly. In terms of time, there should be no difference for the users compared to a conventional petrol station stop for combustion vehicles. The challenge here: How can a charging power be generated that fully charges an electric vehicle in just a few minutes?
The project team has already developed a fully functional prototype. It can charge a test vehicle – here a BMW i3 – at 100 kW in just under half an hour. “But we are also nowhere near full load,” explains researcher Clemens Kerssen. Roland Tiedemann adds: “How quickly the car is fully charged always depends on its size. The Nissan Leaf, for example, has 40 kWh and would be charged in four minutes. If the batteries and cables were designed for that, then we could also charge with 1000kW of power.” The vehicle determines how fast it charges. The goal of the current stage of the project is to reach 400 kW.
In order to achieve the final stage of of 1000 kW without overloading the grid, the researchers have provided a buffer storage, because “if you connect 400kW from the grid to a charging pole, the lights go out,” says Tiedemann. This is a battery being developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology, ISIT. According to the researchers, this kind of storage could also be used as a decentralised energy supply for industrial companies and renewable energies.
The researchers are not satisfied with the current 100 kW charging power of the FE-Alpha prototype. The goal is to further increase the power in step with the development of storage technology in the vehicles. That is why battery cell manufacturers, research institutions and universities are cooperating closely in the research project. “The technology is being expanded so that the cars can also be charged at 1000 kW. This would allow ten cars to charge at the same time without destabilising the utility grid,” Tiedemann explains.
A test building is currently being built on the premises of the project partner Netz Lübeck GmbH. This will allow Power 400 to grow from laboratory scale to industrial scale.
More information: https://www.th-luebeck.de
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