It is not only the large companies asserting their position in the market. From mobile charging stations to intelligent software solutions – even young start-ups are developing technologies which are changing the market.

1. Multi-socket for charging

ChargeX have developed the Aqueduct system which allows up to ten charging points to be installed from just one grid connection – in contrast to conventional methods which only allow one charging point per supply line. Thanks to the innovative mounting concept, installation of a smart charge module with up to 22-kW charging capacity takes less than 60 seconds. Using the charging current distribution app, it is possible to carry out needs-based charging. 

www.chargex.de

2. Software for charging stations

eMabler has developed a SaaS API platform which enables power companies or charging station manufacturers to quickly and easily include electric vehicle charging infrastructure in their other business systems, e.g. in mobile applications, existing customer platforms and payment solutions. With just a mobile app, drivers of electric cars can seamlessly use charging stations from various operators and billing takes place via a central point. 

www.emabler.com

3. Off-grid charging

Constructing new on-grid chargers is often a difficult, lengthy and cost-intensive process. L-Charge offers an alternative: the company is building charging stations that are independent of the power grid and they are building three models: fixed, mobile and floating. The solutions are equipped with generators which generate electricity from hydrogen or LNG. The stations enable ultra-fast charging – going from 0 to 80 per cent in 15 to 25 minutes.

www.l-charge.net

4. Pop-up charging station

The UEone from Urban Electric Networks is the world’s first pop-up charging station, and it solves the charging problem faced by 50 per cent of drivers in cities who park on the street at night. The charging stations automatically sink into the ground once the charging cable is disconnected. In this way, the streetscape is affected as little as possible and the stations are protected from vandalism. With a charging capacity of 7 kW they enable intelligent overnight charging.

www.urbanelectric.london

5. Network for long distance journeys

Along European motorways, Ionity is building and operating a high-power charging network with a charging capacity of up to 350 kW along European motorways. During stopovers, electric vehicle drivers can benefit from high charging speeds when using the European charging standard CCS. Every charging park has four charging stations on average. 100 per cent renewable energy is provided at every charging station.

www.ionity.eu

6. Making charging easy

Easee has developed an intelligent charger which offers not only a cloud connection free of charge but also a free eSIM, automatic updates and extra services. The system impresses in many aspects that are not just important today, but will be essential in the future, as well. These include the automatic load and phase balancing between charging stations and other consumers and the integration of photovoltaic systems, billing systems, flexible tariff systems and smart home systems.

www.easee.com

The post Innovative EV Charging startups appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.

Five years before the first Benz motorcar was on the road in 1886, the first proper electric vehicle was already being driven: for the first International Exposition of Electricity in Paris in 1881, Frenchman Gustave Trouvé built a tricycle powered by electricity.

It managed a top speed of twelve km/h and had a range of 26 kilometres. This was the beginning of a real boom in development – in many countries electric vehicles were suddenly being built. 

What was probably the first real electric passenger vehicle with four wheels was developed in Germany in 1888. The vehicle from the Maschinenfabrik A.

Flocken in Coburg may have still looked more like a carriage, but it was already capable of going 15 km/h, had pneumatic tyres and electric headlights.

Just eleven years later, the Belgian racing driver Camille became the first to go 100 km/h: equipped with two 25-kW electric motors, the torpedo-shaped racing car achieved a speed of 105.88 km/h.

Battery technology was also developing alongside this, and ranges of over 100 km were not uncommon at the time. 

This marked the start of a veritable boom in electric vehicles: at the start of the 20th century, there were over 60,000 battery-powered cars in the USA alone.

Their market share was 38 per cent, significantly higher than that of petrol vehicles (22 per cent). At the time, electric vehicles were being produced by every industrialised nation, and by 1939 there were 565 brands worldwide building electric cars. 

It was first in 1911 that petrol vehicles began to replace electric ones, as it was at that time that the American Charles Kettering invented an electric starter motor for the petrol engine.

This meant that petrol vehicles no longer had to be cranked up (something which required a great deal of effort), and so they became suitable for everyday life.

Since petrol vehicles were faster and cheaper and fuel became more readily available wherever it was needed, vehicles with internal combustion engines ultimately overtook electric cars. 

The post The history of electric cars appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.

Electromobility starts small: more and more people are using e-bikes, e-cargo bikes, e-kick scooters or larger e-scooters. Even these require charging infrastructure that meets their demands.

For example, swappable batteries can be exchanged at intelligent battery swapping stations.

One such example is Swobbee, the first Europe-wide cross-manufacturer swapping system for small electric vehicle batteries. It takes less than a minute to equip a vehicle with a freshly charged replaceable battery.

Ongineer is taking another approach: together with the e-scooter manufacturer Zeus, the company has launched the world’s first wireless charging station onto the market, where the e-scooter can be safely parked, charged and automatically locked at the nearest station at the end of the ride – thus incidentally also effectively solving the issue of chaotically parked e-scooters.

1,000 kilowatts for HGVs

Electromobility was long seen as not economically viable for long-haul HGVs, but megawatt charging will be opening up new possibilities from 2025.

The first global project in the field of megawatt charging is “Hochleistungs-Laden (high performance charging)”, HoLa for short. High-performance charging points with Megawatt Charging Systems (MCS), which have a charging capacity of almost 1,000 kilowatts, are being set up along the A2 motorway in Germany.

Vehicles – particularly those in long-haul transport – can easily cover ranges of 600 to 800 kilometres per day with this technology. The first battery-powered HGVs are already on the market or will be going into operation in the coming years. 

Mobile charging stations for construction equipment

It is not only lorries that are going to be electrified; in the future, agricultural and construction equipment will also be emission-free. There is a unique issue here in that the job sites do not tend to have a charging station.

It is for this reason that Deutz has developed a mobile fast-charging station. It is housed within a robust 10-foot container and can easily be transported to where it is needed.

A mobile buffer battery with a fast-charging station enables a charging capacity of up to 150 kilowatts. This means that construction equipment or tractors can be quickly recharged during a lunch break.

Electric without overhead lines

The railways are also eager for emission-free trains. This is no problem for the routes with overhead lines, but there are numerous stretches which are not electrified.

These gaps can be overcome by the use of battery-powered traction units: these work by drawing power to charge the lithium-ion batteries from the overhead lines when the train is on an electrified route section.

When there is no external mains power, the trains use the energy from the charged batteries. Ranges of 60 to 90 kilometres are therefore currently possible. In order to increase this range, Stadtwerke Tübingen, together with Furrer+Frey, developed the world’s first fast-charging station for trains.

This station can charge battery-powered trains with outputs of up to 1.2 megawatts per train unit. What was so special about this triumph is that an electricity grid with a frequency of 16.7 hertz is used in the railway electrification system.

Yet the power electronics of a modern battery-powered train can also cope with a regular electricity grid which is normally 50 hertz, meaning the charging station can be directly connected to the grid on site. 

Charging at anchor

The electrification of ships brings with it new demand for high-performance charging infrastructure.

There are as many solutions to this as there are applications for ships, and they vary from the use of autonomous telescopic charging via loader crane to manual charging stations.

These can be used to charge ferries such as the Norwegian ship Bastø Electric, the world’s largest purely electric ferry, which charges every time it comes to shore. The fast-charging system provides a charging capacity of nine megawatts.

In order to make longer distances possible, Maersk Supply Service has initiated the offshore ship charging project, Stillstrom.

This uses a charging buoy in an offshore wind farm which electric service vessels can use to charge overnight using green electricity. 

Megawatt for air taxis

The aviation industry is also working on electric motors. The majority of electric aircraft are used for short haul flights. ABB E-mobility and Lilium, for example, are developing charging infrastructure for the regional high-speed flight network which Lilium will be launching from 2025.

The charging stations are designed so that the batteries can be fully charged in 30 minutes and in 15 minutes they can reach a charge of 80 per cent. This is another example of where the Megawatt Charging System is set to be used. 

The post Charging on land, water and even for air traffic appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.

Electric vehicle charging infrastructure must be rapidly expanded for the e-mobility of tomorrow to be a success. Policy-makers and manufacturers must make sure that the number of charging facilities keeps up with the market’s exponentially growing demand.

However, designing a new charging solution is complex and a development timeframe of up to two years is not uncommon.

We spoke with three experts on how to make the design process easier: Sarah Ghaemi is Director of Technical Development at Avnet Abacus, Bevan Braude Business Development Manager at Avnet Embedded and finally Andrej Orel, Director of Market Segment City and Infrastructure at EBV Elektronik.

All three companies are part of the Avnet Group and have combined their expertise in order to support manufacturers during the development of charging solutions. 

Sarah, what do you see as the most important market trends for charging technology at present?

Sarah Ghaemi: I see three fundamental areas: first there is the growth of charging capacity, as more and more charging stations with megawatt capacities are coming into operation. Secondly, wireless charging is emerging as a trend – what is especially exciting about this is the capacity to charge while the vehicle is moving. The third trend is the protocols that allow a vehicle to communicate with the electricity grid.

“Together, we can offer everything that is needed in a charging solution.“

Sarah Ghaemi

Bevan, what do you think are the most important technologies with regard to future charging infrastructure solutions?

Bevan Braude: Artificial intelligence – when integrated into the charging station, it enables a wealth of additional services. This creates added value not just for the operators but also for the end users. That includes, for example, aspects of security or remote monitoring combined with technologies like facial recognition, vehicle recognition and also current monitoring for recovering energy back into the system. 

What do you see as the greatest challenge when it comes to expanding charging infrastructure fast enough to meet current demands?

Andrej Orel: The greatest challenge is the stability of the power grid, especially in relation to integrating renewable energy sources and decentralised systems. The second problem is the insufficient charging infrastructure in rural areas. And then a solution has to be found for everyone to be able to charge at home, even for those who don’t have a garage or their own parking space. 

Charging station designers have to juggle various considerations. No wonder, then, that development can take up to two years. What options do manufacturers have to reduce the time to market?

Andrej Orel: There are several possibilities. The easiest, of course, is to use a white label option, but with that you are dependent on the original developer and you lose the momentum with regard to future upgrades. We recommend a modular or semi-modular approach where the customer can assemble a charging station out of various modules – for example, charging controller with software, embedded performance level, HMI with integrated payment and billing functions and so on and so forth. This can easily shave three to six months off the development time.

“Using a modular design approach can reduce development time by up to six months.”

Andrej Orel

In order to achieve that, EBV, Avnet Abacus and Avnet Embedded are working together under the motto “The Power of Three”. What exactly do you mean by this?

Bevan Braude: We all have different skills and capabilities within our eco-systems. Together we support manufacturers in bringing their products to market faster. That includes not only hardware but also software, IP, electromechanics and connection technology. Several heads are always better than one. Therefore, we can work together on new technologies and find solutions for some of the challenges we have already mentioned – from mains power, software issues and connectivity to the necessary certifications. 

“Our approach can help manufacturers bring their charging solutions to market more quickly.”

Bevan Braude

What makes this cooperation so special?

Sarah Ghaemi: Together we are providing an end-to-end solution, so it’s not just about components and modules. Together we can also provide services for manufacturers such as hardware, firmware or software development. Our customers can store their charging solutions in the cloud via our platform and therefore use innovative cloud services. Together we provide everything that is needed for charging solutions – a one-stop shop. 

This interview is an extract from the EBV podcast “Passion for Technology”. Here Sarah Ghaemi, Bevan Braude and Andrej Orel talk in detail about charging technology trends and explain the advantages of the “Power of Three” campaign from Avnet Abacus, Avnet Embedded and EBV Elektronik for charging technology manufacturers.

www.ev-chargi.ng

The post How to realise an EV Charging solution appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.

The number of charging stations and electric vehicles is rapidly increasing, meaning that ever more charging cables are required. Connections for charging operation types mode 1 and mode 2 dominate the market in terms of numbers used.

Mode 1 charging cables, which are simply connected to a domestic plug socket and do not have any protective devices, are used in Europe to charge e-bikes, for example.

Mode 2 charging cables are currently the most common type of charging used for electric vehicles. Various versions of these cables are currently available and are supplied by OEMs together with the vehicle.

However, the mode 4 segment will experience the highest growth rate in future – as the demand for DC fast chargers in particular is currently increasing all across the world.

DC charging is the fastest charging method. Thanks to high charging currents of up to 500 amperes, it can be used to charge a fully discharged vehicle to 80 per cent in just a few minutes.

However, the faster an electric vehicle is charged, the greater the need for heat regulation.

This is because a high charging current generates a substantial amount of heat due to the internal resistance in the cable and plug.

According to the VDE-AR-E 2623-5-3 directive and the IEC TS 62196-3-1 standard, charging plugs and cables must not be more than 50 kelvins warmer than the ambient air during charging.

Cables with a larger diameter could be the answer, although they would be heavy and bulky.

Manufacturers of fast-charging stations are therefore using liquid-cooled charging cables, in which special coolant flows from the cooling unit via the cable to the plug and back again.

This means the charging cables can be made thinner and lighter and the cable’s weight is reduced by around 40 per cent compared to an uncooled cable.

The latest technology is phase change cooling: Ford has been working with Purdue University to develop a system in which the liquid is vaporized in a closed system, cooled to liquefy it again, and then passed through the cable ones more.

Charging cables are said to be able to handle more than 2,400 amps with this system. Furthermore, highly sensitive temperature sensors on the power contacts of the charging plug and in the charging cable ensure safety during charging, and can be used to control the cooling intensity in a needs-based and efficient manner.

Integrated position and shock sensors provide information about the current condition of the charging plug, and a leak sensor also monitors whether any coolant is leaking.

If this sensor data is monitored via an integrated CAN bus interface, this enables predictive maintenance that is in line with the level of wear. 

The post Different EV Charging plug types appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.

Fast chargers “are key to travel around corridors in the European Union,” says Philippe Vangeel, Secretary General of AVERE (The European Association for Electromobility), the European association that promotes electromobility and sustainable transport across Europe.

Similar to traditional refuelling, fast chargers allow people to recharge electric vehicle batteries in just a few minutes. This makes fast chargers a basic requirement for convenient long-distance travel.

Charging capacity is growing

The number of extremely fast-charging points of 150 kilowatts and above, i.e. “high-power chargers” (HPC) is actually growing disproportionately: for example, there were more than twice as many of them in Germany in 2021 compared to the previous year according to the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW).

“Huge technological leaps are still being made when it comes to the charging power of vehicles and charging stations,” explains Kerstin Andreae, Chair of the BDEW Executive Board. “Until a few years ago, vehicles could generally be charged with a maximum power of 50 kilowatts; the number of vehicle models with a charging power of 100 kilowatts and above has been growing steadily since 2019 and we are seeing a trend towards 150 kilowatts. This represents a tripling of the charging power within just a few years …”

Heading into the megawatt range

This is not only thanks to technological advancements in charging points, but also due to improvements in vehicle battery technology.

New materials and, in particular, sophisticated thermal and battery management allow higher charging currents, without having a significant impact on the battery life.

This means that charging outputs of 350 kilowatts are already possible; the first charging stations with a charging output of one megawatt are currently being launched onto the market.

However, these types of high-performance charging stations are designed more for charging trucks rather than cars – and in future for charging aircraft and boats.

CharIN, which advocates for the standardisation of electric vehicles,  has developed a fast-charging plug for heavy-duty commercial vehicles especially for ultra-fast charging solutions – the Megawatt Charging System.

It is designed for a maximum current of 3,000 amperes at up to 1,250 volts, which results in a potential peak output of 3,750 kilowatts. 

Modified charging station architecture

These types of charging outputs have to be reflected in the design of charging stations: minimising the cooling required, providing a high power density and reducing the system size and cost.

For example, liquid-cooled lines are required to prevent charging cables and plugs from overheating. This means that the charging cables can still be thin and are therefore easy to handle when connecting the charging station and vehicle.

High-power charging stations also work with output voltages above 500 volts. These are the kinds of voltages that generally only trained experts are allowed to handle.

Plug connections must therefore be able to withstand high loads and also adhere to safety protocols that permit laypersons to handle them.

Reducing losses

At the same time, the charging station must be equipped with efficient power electronics that reduce losses during charging as much as possible.

This is because even an efficiency rate of 97 per cent means 9,000 watts of power are lost during a charge with 300 kilowatts.

By way of comparison, the average connection power of an oven is 3,000 to 4,000 watts. Cooling is therefore required in the case of a high power density.

Whilst air cooling is currently standard, the next generation of charging systems use liquid cooling.

Silicon carbide and gallium nitride represent a great leap forward in terms of efficiency and reducing the amount of power lost in the power electronics, as they enable an efficiency rate of 98.5 per cent or more. 

Preventing grid load

Besides the “insides” of the charging station, fast-charging stations also present challenges for the electricity grid: firstly, the costs for the corresponding grid connection power would be considerable, and it is not available everywhere.

And secondly, the high charging outputs place significant strain on the grid and result in strong fluctuations. This is why fast-charging stations are increasingly being connected to fixed buffer storage that can compensate for a lower connection power.

ADS-TEC Energy is one company that offers this type of system. Its battery buffer is charged around the clock with a low grid power.

It then uses this charge to boost the available power from the electricity grid in order to provide charging outputs of up to 320 kilowatts.

Thomas Speidel, Founder and CEO of ADS-TEC Energy says: “With our battery-buffered ultra-fast charging stations, charging can be carried out in just a few minutes almost anywhere, even in grids with limited grid connection power.” 

The post Fast Charging is accelerating electromobility appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.

During charging, the charging station is not simply the central interface for the current flow, but also for communication – both between the vehicle and charging station and between the charging station and electricity grid. 

Charging station and electric vehicle

In the case of communication between the vehicle and charging station, the volume of data exchanged depends on the type of charging operation.

In modes 2, 3 and 4, only information on the basic operating states is communicated. This is referred to as low-level communication and is regulated in IEC 61851. Information is shared via “pulse width modulation”. 

“The charging station is the communication hub between the vehicle and the electricity grid.”

However, if functions such as balancing, Plug & Charge or bidirectional charging are to be possible (smart charging), high-level communication is required, which is regulated in DIN 70121 and ISO 15118.

A large amount of data can then be exchanged between the vehicle and charging station – for example information about the energy demand, the planned charging duration or information concerning the price and billing.

For charging stations as per the “Combined Charging System” (CSS) standard, power-line communication (PLC) is implemented on the basis of IP-based protocols.

For charging stations as per the DC GB/T or DC CHAdeMO standard, communication is carried out via CAN bus (Controller Area Network), which is widespread in the automotive industry.

Charging station and electricity grid

There are also special protocols for vehicle-to-grid communication between the charging station and the market participants on the grid side such as charging station operators, distribution grid operators, billing service providers, roaming networks and measuring site operators.

This includes the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) developed by the Open Charge Alliance. It enables communication between a charging station and a billing/management system, i.e. the backend.

The IEC 63110 series of standards is an additional standard for communicating with the backend. In addition to just the communication protocol, the standard also defines the interface from the charging station to the backend. It therefore covers management of charging stations as well as all other associated infrastructure.

The Open Smart Charging Protocol (OSCP) was also developed by the Open Charge Alliance. It supports communication between the charging point and energy management systems.

The OSCP was originally developed to provide charging station operators with predictions about the local capacity available, in order for them to adapt the electric vehicle charging profiles.

The IEC 63119 series of standards regulates the information exchange for roaming, i.e. the use of various charging networks. 

The post Consistent communication in EV Charging appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.

Inverters are a central component of every charging solution. Minimising charging time while simultaneously optimising system efficiency is a main focus when designing inverters for chargers.

Hybrid inverters use mains and solar energy

When charging the vehicle at home or at work, people normally want to use power from a photovoltaic system on the roof.

This is a topic for inverter technology: SolarEdge has developed the world’s first inverter with an integrated e-charge controller which combines photovoltaic systems and charging electric vehicles in one single piece of hardware.

The system allows the simultaneous use of mains power (= alternating current) and solar power (=direct current). As the powers are combined downstream of the circuit breaker, the charging speeds can exceed the in-built limits of the circuit breaker.

This means that homeowners with a single-phase inverter can charge their electric car up to 2.5 times faster than with a traditional charger. Moreover, system costs are reduced because the costs for the installation of a stand-alone charger and inverter are eliminated. 

“SiC is considered the enabler to provide good efficiency, and a supply of 1,200 V devices is feasible. With more 800 V EVs coming, SiC is expected to grow quickly.” 

Poshun Chiu, Technology & Market Analyst, Compound Semiconductors & Emerging Materials at Yole

Straight to the medium-voltage grid

Modern inverter technology can also play a role in reducing the number of required components in the field of DC fast-charging technology. Solid-state transformers (SST) are one example of this.

They are composed of silicon-carbide-based power electronic transformer stages which allow greater flexibility in controlling power distribution networks.

Depending on requirements, they make seamless AC-DC and DC-AC conversions possible. When used in charging stations, they can charge various types of vehicle battery with different voltage and performance levels.

In particular, SST technology makes direct connection to the medium-voltage grid of the energy supplier possible, without any additional equipment for energy conversion and the associated commissioning.

More efficiency with silicon carbide

Another important trend for inverter technology is the transition to silicon carbide semiconductors. They offer an array of advantages in comparison to traditional power semiconductors made from silicon.

They enable faster switching speeds, lower inductance and capacities, all of which results in smaller component sizes.

With this, smaller chargers can be built that work at a higher efficiency and require less cooling than their silicon equivalents.

This means that it is possible to design simpler charging systems, while still delivering higher charging efficiency and reliability than silicon alternatives. 

The post More efficient current conversion appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.

Different types of charging systems are available to charge electric vehicles. In wired (or conductive) charging systems that use alternating current, the power from the AC grid is first transferred to the vehicle.

The vehicle has a built-in charger that converts the alternating current into the direct current required by the battery.

Higher power outputs can be achieved by charging the vehicle with direct current. With this method, the charger is integrated into a charging station.

The post The various types of a charging system appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.

However, the five most important assemblies are the charging controller, the human-machine interface, modules for connectivity, the power electronics and finally the charging cable with charging plug.

When selecting suitable components, a number of questions must be clarified before actually designing a charging station. A few example questions are shown below.

What standards do the charging cable and plug system have to meet?

Power is transmitted between the electric vehicle and charging station via a suitable charging cable and a corresponding charging plug.

• In which region is the charging station to be set up (type 1 or type 2 charging cable, type 2 charging plug, CSS, Combo, CHAdeMO, etc.)?
• Is AC or DC used for charging?
• What power is used for charging?

What power is to be used for charging?

The power unit is responsible for actually converting the electrical energy from the grid. The power unit defines the charging capacity available (7 kW, 11 kW, 22 kW, 50 kW, 400 kW, etc.) and therefore also the possible charging speed.

• What voltage level is required at the output (400 V, 600 V, 800 V, etc.)?

Which semiconductor device is preferred (module or discrete):

• MOSFET Si: most common circuit breaker in DC chargers with a power of up to 75 kW, high efficiency with fast switching applications and a good price/performance ratioIGBT: suited for inexpensive DC chargers where efficiency and space requirements are not a factor
• SiC: high efficiency and low space requirements – therefore mainly used in DC chargers with an output of more than 100 kW

What functions is the charging controller expected to have?

The charging controller controls and monitors the entire charging process. It communicates with the electric vehicle to be charged, regulates parameters such as charging current, and optionally performs additional tasks.

• Is direct current or alternating current used for charging?
• Is communication between the vehicle and charging station to be carried out using pulse width modulation (PWM) or bidirectionally as per ISO 15118 with power-line communication?
• Is the charging station to provide the “Plug & Charge” function?Is use of or connection to cloud services planned?
• What type of electricity meter is to be installed – an external one via the IMD interface or an internal one?

What type of wireless or cable-based connectivity is required?

Communication modules enable the charging station to be networked and a connection to be established with higher-level management and backend systems. One important task here is protecting against cyber attacks.

• MODBUS, MBUS, RS485, etc. 
• 2G, 4G, 5G mobile communication, NBIoT, Cat-M, etc.
• Wi-Fi, sub-GHZ, Lora, WiSUN, etc.
• PLC/RF narrow band hybrid module

What are the requirements of the human-machine interface (HMI)?

The charging station is operated and the charging process, for example, initiated and paid for by the user via the human-machine interface.

• LEDs
• NFC for payment purposes
• Chip card reader
• Security and protection against tampering
• Touch LCD control panel

The post Components of a charging station appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.