The way to increase the range of the Tesla Cybertruck is to add a built-in power bank (the official name is "Extender"), so what about the truck?
DesignWerk's answer to commercial vehicle charging - extra-large external mobile power bank + MCS megawatt charging.
Previously, in April 2021, the Volvo Group signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 60% stake in Swiss engineering company Designwerk Technologies AG, which develops and sells electric vehicle products and engineering services within the EV ecosystem.
On November 30, 2023, Designwerk Technologies AG is commercializing a battery buffer charging device for commercial vehicles, which has two CCS charging points with a power of 420 kilowatts each. The technology on which the charging container is based comes from an ongoing megawatt-scale charging demonstration project. In 2024, customers in Switzerland will use this type of charging station for the first time.
designwerk hpcccs
Designwerk has developed a new fast charging station in the form of a container. The company recently demonstrated the system, known as the "Mega Charger", to around 80 industry experts at its headquarters in Winterthur.
Note: Collided with a Tesla MegachargerIt seems that the naming of new power products still has to start first, I don't know if domestic charging equipment companies now have products called super (chaoji) or MCS）。
The technical data published by Designwerk includes a charging power of 420 kW (840 kW total) at each of the above charging points and a battery capacity of up to 2 MWh, through which lithium-ion batteries store energy for the charger. The container size is 86 x 2.55 x 3 meters.
"The new charging system is designed to make electric commercial vehicles suitable for long-distance driving without overloading the grid," Designwerk said. This system ensures that the grid is not overloaded due to charging peaks during charging. The energy storage unit also ensures that fluctuating energy** from renewable energy sources is balanced.
Sales of "Mega Charger" have already begun. The charging power and battery capacity can be adjusted according to the customer's needs.
Swiss logistics company Galliker Transport AG plans to commission a charging park based on "Mega Charger" technology next year, which will be a "megawatt-class charging station" with a total charging capacity of more than 1 megawatt.
Megawatt battery charging system for heavy-duty commercial vehicles
The technology used in the designwerk charging solution is the result of an ongoing demonstration project called "Megawatt Battery Charging System for He**y Commercial Vehicles", which began in early 2022 in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Office for Energy, the Bern University of Applied Sciences, University of Applied Sciences in Eastern Switzerland and other industry players.
The Megawatt Charging System (MCS) is designed for charging voltages up to 1250 volts and currents of 3000 amps, which theoretically equates to up to 375 MW charging capacity.
The megawatt-class charging station is designed to quickly charge the e-truck in less than 45 minutes. The basis of the technology is the development of new charging standards for heavy-duty commercial vehicles.
Designwerk Technologies AG is currently building one of the world's first megawatt-class charging stations. It is expected to be 6 times faster than a conventional high-capacity charging station with an output of 350 kW.
The integrated battery buffer is designed to cope with peak demand. Another purpose is to enable the charging station to operate in a way that is beneficial to the grid.
The demonstration facility aims to highlight the ways in which high-capacity charging networks and security of power supply can go hand in hand.
Install recycled electric truck batteries in charging containers to act as a buffer to cope with peak demand. Not only does this eliminate the need to expand the grid, but it also means that the battery system should be able to feed renewable electricity back into the grid. Similar to bidirectional charging, electric vehicles can therefore be incorporated into the solution.
The charging capacity goal of this demonstration project is to build and test a battery-backed charging station with a capacity of 105 MW. The technology should be able to quickly charge electric trucks in less than 45 minutes. The energy content of the battery should be 18MWh, the weight of the container should be 25 tons.
The unit will be connected to the grid via CEE 125 and the MCS output can provide up to 2100 kW of charging power (up to 3000 amps at 500-900 volts). CCS plugs are also installed.
It is said that the total efficiency from the power grid to the buffer battery to the vehicle is about 90%.
Main Project Objectives:
Development of a megawatt-scale battery-powered fast charging system.
Thanks to the use of recycled batteries, the grid mitigates and buffers excess power.
Development and standardization of megawatt-class charging connector systems.
Basic Operations:
Battery buffers, as well as power electronics and associated electrical and electronic hardware, are installed in the container and are protected from external influences.
The charging container contains a discharge capacity of 21 MW battery pack with a storage capacity of 1,800 kWh.
In addition to a high-performance plug-in system according to the MCS standard, the charging station can optionally offer backward compatibility with 350 kW charging points.
A handling manipulator is designed for handling and moving high-power plugs on water-cooled high-power cables. It allows easy manual operation of the plug.
mega chargerAdvantages:
Fast charging of heavy-duty electric trucks in 45 minutes.
The concept of transportability and flexible utilization.
Compliant with the global standard MCS
Energy buffering reduces grid connection costs.
Further use of retired drive batteries.
Technical data
According to DesignWerk, containers can be transported by low-flying aircraft, as well as by cranes.
point of view
This practice is actually a combination of megawatt charging + power bank + UPS power supply, advantages:
MCS megawatt fast charging, solve the problem of slow charging;
Mobile charging, to solve the problem of power in areas where the power grid is not reached;
Buffer battery (buffer) to meet the peak and valley electricity price staggering demand;
Buffer battery (buffer) + V2G to cope with the problem of power grid fluctuations;
Circulating batteries, using aging vehicle batteries.