Euro electric vehicles to receive charge boost

Four major automakers have teamed up to create high-power charging points throughout Europe, paving the way for greater electric vehicle (EV) use.

BMW Group, Daimler AG, Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen Group, including Audi and Porsche, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create the highest-powered charging network in Europe.

The automakers’ goal is the quick build-up of a sizeable number of stations in order to enable long-range travel for battery electric vehicle drivers. This will be an important step towards facilitating mass-market battery electric vehicle (BEV) adoption.

The projected ultra-fast high-powered charging network with power levels up to 350 kW will be significantly faster than the most powerful charging system deployed today. The build-up is planned to start in 2017.

An initial target of 400 sites in Europe is planned. But the four automakers reckon that by 2020 the customers should have access to thousands of high-powered charging points. The goal is to enable long-distance travel through open-network charging stations along highways and major thoroughfares, which has not been feasible for most BEV drivers to date. The charging experience is expected to evolve to be as convenient as refuelling at conventional gasoline and diesel fuel filling stations.

The network will be based on Combined Charging System (CCS) standard technology. The planned charging infrastructure expands the existing technical standard for AC- and DC charging of electric vehicles to the next level of capacity for DC fast charging with up to 350 kW. BEVs that are engineered to accept this full power of the charge stations can recharge brand-independently in a fraction of the time of today’s BEVs.

The network is intended to serve all CCS equipped vehicles to facilitate the BEV adoption in Europe.