power developers

Review of CharIN Testival 2019 The Netherlands

The CharIn Testival 2019 took place on eLaad in Arnhem on 30 and 31 October. During this Testival, manufacturers of Electric Vehicles and manufacturers of charging stations come together to test interoperability with the OCCP protocol and a Combined Charging System (CCS) connector. PRE Power Developers was in Arnhem to test its V2G CCS Power module. We also visited the first CharIN Europe Conference. The two main topics of the conference were Vehicle to Grid (V2G) and High Power Charging (HPC).

Most important CharIN messages:

· CharIN embraces V2G
· CharIN has announced a newly HPC DC charging plug

CharIN embraces V2G

·         CharIN embraces V2G as the ultimate way to manage energy networks in an innovative way that could safe society billions of Euro 's in infrastructure investments.
·         CharIN emphasis the need for global standards.
·         In 2025 the CharIN (ISO 15118) standards are ready for implementation in (V2G) CCS EV's
·         eLaad is leading the way towards standardization with OCPP
·         China state grid has a step plan for mass V2G implementation. From Chaos to V1G to V2G.
·         Renault will deploy EV's with an on-board bidirectional charger. To comply with grid codes the AC charger must be upgraded with (a.o) safety contactors.
·         Mobility House addresses the need for open standards
·         V1G is good for preventing problems with EV charging, V2G will make the EV part of the solution for mass roll out of EVs and more renewable energy
·         With V2G much more renewable energy can be tolerated in the grid, less wind mills will have to be stalled (disabled)
·         ABB announces a 11kW V2G charger.

V2G ccs plug – PRE experience

CharIN embraced the potential of v2g. From our experience with CHAdeMO based v2g applications we know that for safety reasons a dedicated V2x plug is needed. This is a plug with an internal fuse in the plug that should protect the DC cable against grid side faults. The fuse inside the car is rated for 125A, and this is too much for a 60A rated cable. It is unknown if CharIN is working on a similar solution.

CharIN has announced a newly HPC DC charging plug

The newly HPC DC charging plug has power of 2-3MW. It is targeting professional long distance motorway transport. The idea is that Trucks consume between 0.5 and 1.0 kWh per km. Truck drivers drive 3 hours at 85km/hr, so 250km, so 250kWh is consumed. To recharge in 15minutes a power of 2MW is needed (considering that 7-8minutes are needed for plugging/unplugging the charger). In addition, this plug will accommodate automized (robo) charging. Examples of robocharging can be seen here: RocSys or Tesla snake charger.

The blueprint of the new design was provided by Tesla. This is no surprise since Tesla today still has the most ergonomic/economic plug (weight and handability,non liquid cooled) as well the highest charge power at 400VDC (200kW).

Recently the Porsche Taycan launched dc charge power capability of 250kW. But this is at 800V and requires a liquid cooled CCS cable.

CHAdeMO and GB/t (China standard) announced a new dc charge plug as well. It is called ChaoJi. This plug can do 900kW. Significantly less than the newly announced CCS plug.

The ChaoJi plug is announced for mid 2020. It will be backwards compatible. This means it can still charge old EV's. Also it will be able to charge CCS vehicles.

CHAdeMO is used by Nissan and Mitsubishi. Recently Honda announced the new Honda E which will use a CCS plug

It is not known when the new CCS HPC plug will be launched. We will keep you posted on this!

Technical note
To reach megawatts of charge power, CHAdeMO and CharIN further increase the max charge voltage. Porsche already went up to 950V DC. The new standards go as high as 1500V DC.

The maximum charge current will be as high as 1000A. In comparison an iPhone is charged with 1A DC.

According to safety standards 1500V DC is the highest viable voltage for products that need to be certified for safety. So charger voltages will not get higher in the future.

About PRE power developers:

PRE offers core technology for HPC and V2G chargers since 2010.