EV charging stations with high-power capability

by Vianie Li & Cecile de Veyra

The electric vehicle market has witnessed explosive development worldwide, driven by governments’ pledges to reduce carbon emissions and consumers’ greater environmental awareness. Sales of electric cars, including hybrids, reached 6.6 million units in 2021, according to the International Energy Agency’s “Global EV Outlook 2022” report. By the end of the same year, the number of electric cars on the road was about 16.5 million or triple the total in 2018. And despite ongoing supply chain issues, there were already 2 million electric cars sold in 1Q 2022.

While these figures are all heading north, there are still obstacles to wider EV adoption, one of them being charging infrastructure. There is currently a wide gap based on the huge demand for it. According to projections made by market research firm BlueWeave, the global market for EV charging stations will have a CAGR exceeding 40 percent between 2022 and 2028.

Alongside this massive need for charging infrastructure, continuous development has led to upgrades in EV batteries, upping the ante for charging technology. There is also the speed challenge as filling a gas tank only takes about five minutes. To close the gap, the current trend is toward higher power to realize quick charging in less than 30 minutes. The Terra 360 charger, said to be the world’s fastest electric car charger produced by Shell and ABB, can deliver up to 360kW. This means “a car capable of accepting such speeds could be charged in less than 15 minutes,” said e-mobility platform Move Electric.

In China, the world’s largest EV market, widely manufactured charging stations have output ranging from 60 to 100kW. To shorten the typical charging time of 1 to 1.5 hours and bring it down to 10 minutes, companies have a future target of reaching 350kW for civil and commercial needs. Shanghai Sunpass has introduced a unit packing up to 360kW. For airports, highway service areas and industrial parks, this charger has smart control and app management features, and is available in IP54 and IP32 variants respectively for outdoor and indoor use.

In the coming years, power can go higher to 400kW based on CCS and CHAdeMO standards, with the latter aiming for 900kW down the line. In 2020, CHAdeMo worked with the China Electricity Council and released the CHAdeMO 3.0. This protocol requires chargers “using the brand-new, identical plug with China’s GB/T protocol, allowing for maximum current of 600A,” according to the Japan-based association.

Bidirectional or vehicle-to-grid (V2G) or -home (V2H) charging is also a developing trend, which could boost EV acceptance further. This technology enables power stored in batteries to be sold for transfer back to the grid or used in homes, both to help stabilize supply when necessary.

In the area of wireless charging, there have been breakthroughs from global players such as Volvo, BMW and Genesis. Due to the high technology level and costs involved, only a few Chinese manufacturers have followed their lead.

Consolidating China's lead

Up to 2.617 million EV charging stations were installed in China in 2021, rising by 224.3 percent YoY, according to Global Info Research. This is expected to ramp up to 6.543 million units by 2025 or at 25.7 percent CAGR from 2021.

In terms of public EV stations, there are a total of 1.419 million as of May 2022, as reported by the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance. They are 613,000 DC, 806,000 AC and 485 AC-DC integrated types. Most of them (72.3 percent) are found in the provinces of Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, Shandong, Anhui, Henan and Fujian, and the municipalities of Shanghai and Beijing. Based on this, China’s ratio of charging stations to EVs is 1:2.1 and will likely improve further as installations continue.