General Motors has signed on to a project with Delta Electronics and the US Department of Energy that aims to develop a new “extreme fast EV charger” (XFC) system, capable of providing up to 180 miles of pure-electric driving range in just ten minutes. Numerous other partners are onboard, including DTE Energy in Detroit, Virginia Tech’s Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES), solar window producer NextEnergy, the Energy Office at the Michigan Agency for Energy, and Detroit’s Office of Sustainability.
Through their arrangement, the US Department of Energy will share 50 percent of the project’s costs.
Delta, General Motors, et al. will use solid-state transformers (SSTs) and a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) port to deliver as much as 400 kW of power, with a projected grid-to-vehicle efficiency of up to 96.5 percent – a 3.5-percent improvement over current technologies. In addition, the system is expected to have a much smaller physical footprint than a conventional DC fast EV charger (DCFC), being half the size and about a quarter of the weight.
A battery for the Chevy Volt being assembled at GM’s Brownstown Battery Pack Assembly Plant
“We’re thrilled to lead such an important project and have a stellar team of researchers and partners in place that are more than ready to take on the challenge of setting a new standard for EV fast charging,” says Delta Electronics President of the Americas M.S. Huang. “By utilizing solid-state transformer technology, we have the opportunity to create unprecedented charging speed and convenience that will ultimately help support the DOE’s strategic goal of increasing EV adoption across the nation.”
Access to fast, reliable charging is seen as a major inhibitor for growth in the EV sector. Last autumn, one Chevrolet Bolt EV owner even went so far as to say that “you’re slowed down by the charging network, not the car, and that’s a bit of a problem.” Not only are stations few and far between in many areas of the United States, but there are myriad charging standards with different maximum power levels, and none of them are anywhere near as fast as fueling up with petrol.
A prototype for the 400-kW Extreme Fast EV Charger that General Motors is helping develop is expected to be ready in 2020.
Comments
This is key. Faster chargers that can charge close to the time it takes to fill a tank of gas will be a big barrier broken.
It will make EV vehicles less of a life style changer and even remove worries of range anxiety.
The next thing is to get them in enough places to where they are needed for travel and commuting.
Not to put them out there is like having an interstate system with no gas stations.
What would be even better would be an universal fast recharge system that could be shared by the entire industry which then allow municipalities across the country to buy these chargers and offer them to the public because no city or state can mandate electric vehicles without having the infrastructure to recharge the electric cars.
That is the purpose of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). They established the standard of the gas filler nozzles in the past, and have several standards for the charging equipment (EVSE) , one of them being the J1772 standard that all EV manufacturers follow except Tesla and Nissan.
I would think battery technology is where the limitations are. Designing batteries that are capable of charging at such a fast rate without damage or exploding.
You wouldn’t want to be anywhere near a car that is charging that fast if it blows, there would be nothing left for the coroner!
The problem is batteries and chargers both, they work hand in hand.
I also agree that a unified charging system would be great but everyone is looking to make the next big battery breakthrough.
Unlike gasoline and ICE that has remained stable through the years the EV will have to deal with technology breakthroughs.
While advancements are great it may render cars only a few years old as popular and valuable as a used IPhone 3
“work hand in hand” sure they do, the problem though is creating a battery that can take a high rate of charge. That for instance a rail gun power supply can deliver.
The problem is not the power supply, it’s the battery chemistry and construction. It may take 3D printed finiteness to creat an affordable battery that can change like a capacitor and discharge a like power supply!
And like I said, if one blows, BOOM!!!
Incendiary device, in your garage, under your kids bedroom!
There are gasoline explosions and fires every day killing and maiming thousands, yet you are worried about one EV explosion that has NEVER happened?
Fast charging is not the real problem, since the great majority of actual EV owners charge overnight in their homes while they sleep, just as many laptop and smartphone owners do.
So your saying it will never happen? …OK!
Never seen or heard of too many laptops exploding, but they don’t have quick charge either. Phones? you see it all the time.
Good luck to you!
SAE does set standards but the problem is with new technologies and each mfg looking for a lead or advantage we are still too scattered for our own good yet.
Once a suitable technology is reached in a battery to bring stability to the product then standardization will be found.
My SAE magazine on EV models is still all over the place as so much is still being tried and tested.
That is good news for all of us, planet wide. Could be the cornerstone of wider EV acceptance and employment. We need that ASAP.
I would like to comment on a few good points here. First off, let’s throw out the disinformation baby with the bath water, since we have been forced to park our gas bombs “under our kid’s bedrooms” for decades now and “carbecues are non reported daily events in cities nationwide. As a Volt owner for 80,000 miles I agree that most charging happens at home, Hell even the Federal VA health center that my wife commutes to has a National “policy” that you CANNOT charge a car on the premises – even though us tax payers payed for an enormous solar power field on site here… It’s just a perfect example of moronic bureaucracy at work. Here’s another; at a recent local mayor and council candidates meeting for our small town in central AZ. there was great excitement about a proposed major gas station to be built, thus providing very needed tax revenue. I pointed out to the mayoral candidate that the world needed another gas station like it needed… (pick your favorite), but could the council at least require this company to install a fast charge system on site as well. After recovering from her blank stare episode as to why that might be needed, she positively stated that “WE CAN’T DO THAT” – this coming from any town USA that has no problem controlling almost every aspect of what their citizens can or cannot build or do on their own property shows the utter lack of vision from “our leaders” on this planet that cripples us as a people. It’s high time to wake up!.. but I digress. As a Veteran with four veteran sons I very strongly say it’s WAY past time that we stop sending oil money to places that hate us for it and ruining our blue home in the process Please expedite clean energy tech!