49% of Europe's ultra-fast charging will support 800 volts by 2024, with Germany ranking first with 13,000 seats

Automakers have a large share of the existing 800-volt charging station deployments as they look to support the latest fast-charging technology to boost sales of new energy vehicles.

Tesla and Ionity (a joint venture backed by car companies) account for 20% of 800-volt chargers in Europe. The situation is similar in the United States, where Tesla and Electrify America (Volkswagen's charging network) are in the lead. According to the analysis, Electrify America will increase the number of 800-volt chargers in its network by 60% by 2024.

It remains critical for automakers to make vehicles backward compatible with slower 400-volt chargers. This requires either adding a high-voltage supercharger to convert the 400-volt power from the charger to 800 volts, or using a high-voltage switch to split the 800-volt battery pack into multiple low-voltage units for efficient charging at 400 volts. Either approach would offset some of the efficiency and weight savings from switching to a high-voltage system.

All this highlights that the new energy vehicle and charging industry is still in its infancy, and that there is still competition in car design and technology application. For the next generation of BMW cars based on its Neue Klasse platform, a sufficient number of 800-volt charging stations are essential for drivers to take full advantage of their car's new technology.