The first Tritium 350kW high-power chargers have gone into operation as part of the Ionity charging network project. Twelve high-power chargers have been installed at the Tank & Rast rest stops at Brohltal Ost and West either side of the A61 highway in Germany – making up an early part of the planned 400 high-power stations that will make up the Ionity network.
As one of Europe’s leading suppliers of DC fast EV chargers, Tritium was selected as a supplier for this project early in 2017. The specially designed charging stations are each capable of delivering 350kW of power, which can add 150km driving range in five minutes.
“Increasing battery size and energy density means electric vehicles can travel further distances. But charging these larger batteries fast requires high-power charging infrastructure,” said Dr David Finn, CEO and founder of Tritium.
“Our HPC solutions deliver up to 475kW of power, making them capable of charging EVs in a very short time. And our goal is to bring charging times down even further, ideally to the same time as it would take to fill your tank with petrol.
“The chargers offer the Combined Charging System (CCS) used by a wide range of vehicle manufacturers. As with all the chargers in the Tritium range, these HPCs include Tritium’s unique and innovative liquid-cooled technology and our system has a significantly smaller footprint than other HPCs on the market – between 50-75% smaller.”
“We entered into a strategic technology partnership with Tritium to introduce HPCs across Europe and have been impressed with their technology and service commitment,” added Ionity CEO Michael Hajesch. “They not only deliver the required power for fast charging but are also highly efficient and compact devices.”
Ionity COO Marcus Groll added that the joint effort has resulted in “these two stations being among the very first of our planned network ensuring that EV drivers no longer need to fear what used to be called range anxiety.”
