EV industry seen shifting to 800 volt technology

But with most present charging stations centered on 400-volt systems, is there nevertheless an gain for cars and trucks with 800-volt architectures?

Industry experts say yes, even though motor vehicles will require an 800-volt-dependent charging infrastructure to take complete advantage.

“Much of the present DC fast charging infrastructure is for 400-volt vehicles,” reported BorgWarner’s Husted. “To allow for the more quickly charging that 800 volt permits, the most up-to-date generation of superior-voltage, higher-power DC speedy chargers will be wanted.”

That’s not an issue for household charging, but the maximum-velocity community charging networks so far are confined. Reich thinks it will be a specific issue for highway charging stations.

“The refill has to be as fast as fueling up at a gas station,” he reported. “This is the use case” for 800-volt charging.

Europe is observing the increase of such networks.

Ionity is a multi-automaker partnership with a selection of 800-volt, 350-kilowatt freeway charging points.

“A 350-kW charger interprets into five to 7 minutes charging time for 100 km,” stated Otmar Scharrer, senior vice president electrified powertrain technological know-how at ZF. Which is about the exact same time as a coffee crack, he pointed out.

“This is seriously a recreation-changer,” he stated. “This is some thing that will travel acceptance of e-mobility.”

In accordance to a the latest report from Porsche, it takes about 80 minutes to incorporate 250 miles of array at a common 50-kW, 400-volt station. That time drops to 40 minutes at 100 kW. If the charging plugs are cooled — adding price tag, excess weight and complexity — that time can drop to 30 minutes, Porsche stated.

“A shift to a bigger voltage is therefore unavoidable in the quest to achieve charging occasions in the wanted corridor,” the report said. It would fall to about 15 minutes with 800-volt charging, the automaker said.

Using into account the time to fork out, “the objective of ‘charging like filling up’ is therefore almost in just access.”

Audi claims the A6 Avant E-tron notion, primarily based on the similar PPE architecture as the Taycan, can choose in plenty of electrical power in just 10 minutes at a rapid-charging station to push about 186 miles.