The electric vehicle fast charging market is heating up, and high-power fast charging is becoming a trend

As the electric vehicle market continues to heat up, power battery-related technologies have also become a focus of domestic and foreign automobile manufacturers.

According to foreign media reports, General Motors is working with its partner Delta Americas to develop a fast-charging system for electric vehicles, with the goal of allowing electric vehicles to travel 180 miles (about 290 kilometers) after charging in 10 minutes.

The three-year cooperation project between GM and Delta Americas, with a total investment of $7 million, aims to jointly develop a 400kW ultra-fast charging system (XFC). According to reports, the system is developed based on solid-state transformer (SST) technology, weighs 1/4 of the ordinary DC fast charging system and is half the size. In terms of interface, it adopts the "Combined Charging System (CCS)" standard led by the American Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

Currently, General Motors' Chevrolet Bolt pure electric vehicle uses a DC fast charging pile with a rated power of 90kW, which can travel about 145 kilometers after charging for 30 minutes.

On the other hand, Tesla claims on its official website that it can fully charge a car in about 30 minutes using its second-generation supercharger with a rated power of 120kW. Tesla is developing a new generation of superchargers with a rated power of 240kW, which is expected to be released this year.

Last November, BMW, Daimler, Ford and Volkswagen Group announced the establishment of a joint venture, IONITY, which aims to develop and build a high-power charging network with a power of 350kW to provide comprehensive support for electric vehicles throughout Europe. Audi, Porsche and other brands attach great importance to this project and hope to build a comprehensive super-fast charging network to support their electric vehicles with longer driving range that will be launched in the future.

Currently, Porsche's new pure electric super sports car Taycan has been opened for pre-order in many countries, with a driving range of more than 500 kilometers. According to Audi's plan, its first mass-produced pure electric SUV e-tron will be officially released and pre-sold in San Francisco, USA on September 17, and is expected to officially enter the US market in early 2019. It will also be sold in China as an import, with a driving range of more than 400 kilometers.

Jaguar, BMW and others have also launched or plan to launch such high-range electric vehicles. At the just-concluded 2018 Chengdu Auto Show, the Jaguar I-PACE attracted a lot of attention. This time, Jaguar I-PACE released four versions of models, with an official guide price of 648,000 to 736,800 yuan, and an official range of 500 kilometers. BMW plans to put ix3 into production in China in 2020, and it is said that the range will reach 400 kilometers. For these electric models with a range of more than 400 to 500 kilometers, fast charging technology is particularly necessary.

High-power fast charging has become a trend. GM's 400kW fast charging system is still under development, while 350kW fast charging systems are already on the market. In April this year, ABB, a world-renowned power equipment supplier, released the 350kW Terra high-power charging system. The company claims that it only takes 8 minutes to charge an electric vehicle and can support an electric vehicle to travel 200 kilometers, equivalent to 25 kilometers per minute.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.