The German company Siemens is improving its fast charging stations for electric cars with increased power. The latter now increases to 400 kW and can recharge up to four cars at the same time. Enough to give Tesla and its Superchargers a real beating, with a recharge in around 15 minutes.
Electric cars are becoming more and more popular. However, motorists are still afraid of running out of range and not being able to recharge easily.
Very powerful terminals
Which is actually less and less of a problem, since terminals are very numerous today. In France alone, there are more than 123,000 of them, and they are also more reliable than ever. But that's not all, because equipment manufacturers are also working to develop even faster solutions, in order to reduce waiting times. Among them, we can cite Tesla with its Superchargers, which still remains the benchmark, even if the company is no longer really the best.
Indeed, the competition is strong today, and now one player intends to stand out from the crowd. This is Siemens, which unveiled in 2021 its first fast charging station. The latter is called Sicharge D and at the time delivered an already very high power of 300 kW. Well above the 250 kW of Tesla Superchargers (soon 350 kW) but below 350 kW of Ionity. But the firm didn't stop there, of course.
In a communicated just published, the German company based in Munich announces a new version of its terminal. The latter thus increases in power, and now increases to 400 kW. A figure identical to that of Fastned's fast terminals, which are not yet available from us. Enough to also surpass Lidl, which offers the fastest charging in France, with no less than 360 kW. But that's not all, because the 400 kW are not announced at peak, but continuously.
This power of 400 kW allows an electric car battery to be recharged from 10 to 80% in approximately 15 minutes. Provided the car accepts such power. This is for example the case of the Zeekr 001 FR and all cars equipped with the Qilin 3.0 battery from CATL.
According to the company, this power would be stable and achieved even at an ambient temperature of 40 degrees. A small feat, because we know that hot or cold have a negative impact on recharging. But this is not the only good news brought by this new version of the Sicharge D terminal. In fact, the latter can also power a greater number of electric cars at the same time.
A more practical terminal
In total, these are not no less than four vehicles which can be connected simultaneously. However, in this case, the charging power will be slightly reduced, probably divided by the number of vehicles present at the terminal. But Siemens has developed a solution to avoid unhappy drivers. The latter is called dynamic recharging.and makes it possible to optimize charging times, undoubtedly intelligently distributing power between cars.
This solution would also allow operators to save money and space. These new terminals are also intended to be easier to use, since they are now equipped witha brand new touch screen translated into several languages, allowing easy access to all information. The cable has also been designed to be easier to hold and facilitate handling by users.
And good news, this new Sicharge D integrates a bank card payment terminal, which will soon be mandatory in Europe anyway. A solution also finally being deployed on the latest version of Tesla Superchargers. It now remains to be seen when this new terminal will be installed for the first time, while Siemens has already built no less than 1,000 rapid sockets in its Leipzig factory, whether the old or the new generation.