Rapid recharge opens a new era for electric mobility

With the expected flight to the electric vehicle market, a whole sector must accomplish its moult. First, the charging stations must meet a double objective: to offer motorists even more practical conditions of use and define new uses for the electric car.

Quick charging station: models and prices

The use of public limits is essential during long journeys by electric car. The fast terminal constitutes The best charging solution in roaming, Because it allows the vehicle to be reloaded in half an hour. Furthermore, it is not difficult to find a fast charge point. Nevertheless, if the price can vary from one network to another, The cost remains far below the price of gasoline. Discover the details in this article.

Summary

What is a quick charging station ?

• Domestic recharge using a reinforced socket(3.2 kW) usually installed at home;
• Accelerated recharge on aSpecific wall terminal(up to 22 kW), which can be installed at home, in a condominium building or in the workplace.

Install a charging station at your home

For a safe recharge your electric or rechargeable hybrid car and up to three faster (2) , Ask for the installation of a charging station at home

Finding a quick charging point is necessary when you travel several hundred kilometers, as the vehicle will need to be recharged halfway. You will find 7000 fast charging points in France (1), and the number of terminals continues to increase with the development of electric mobility.

The different models

There are currently 3 types of terminal according to their operation and the load power provided:

• Alternative load (AC alternating current) : 43 kW
• Chademo load (DC DC), Japanese standard widely used in Europe: 50 kW
• The Combo load (AC and DC) or combined charging system, European standard: up to 350 kW.

In accordance with the load types offered on electric terminals, we can find Different types of sockets. There are type 2 (AC), Chademo, combo or compatible sockets with 2 or 3 types of loads (ex: AC/Chademo or Chademo/Combo). It is therefore suitable for Check the compatibility of your charging cable with the load offered Before choosing a terminal.

In addition to these rapid charging solutions accessible to the public, there are also the owner chargers. Thus, LTesla users have dedicated charging points. Today, the manufacturer’s charging network has approximately 5,000 proprietary terminals distributed in 700 charging stations. Their power goes up to 150 kW.

How to access the quick charging stations ?

To easily find the nearest electric charging station with the charging speed, you can Use dedicated mobile applications. For example, there is ChargeMap which at the same time offers specific websites to identify existing charging points for each type of connector (AC, Chademo, Combo or Tesla Supercombes). Charging operators like Ionity Also have a practical mobile application to search for public terminals.

Finally, users of electric vehicles can have the list of load infrastructure available on the motorway areas By consulting the site of the various networks (Vinci, Albea, Adelac, Sanef/Sapn, APRR). In the “Aires and Services” section, you only have to define your journey to find the electric vehicle charging station in the locations that interest you.

Rapid recharge opens a new era for electric mobility

With the expected flight to the electric vehicle market, a whole sector must accomplish its moult. First, the charging stations must meet a double objective: to offer motorists even more practical conditions of use and define new uses for the electric car.

With this in mind, rapid recharging tenfold the field of possibilities. Public authorities, private operators and manufacturers have understood this and make its deployment a priority issue.

What is fast recharging ?

Like this smartphone which we want the battery to fill up as soon as possible, we would sometimes appreciate an express recharge from your electric vehicle. If the so -called conventional terminals and the domestic systems make it possible to make the “full electric” of your electric car in one night or a few hours, the rapid recharging – corresponding to a minimum power of 43 kW – drastically decreases this charging time.

Thanks to the fast terminals, 30 minutes allow you to effectively recharge your car battery. A simple break is thus enough to find optimal autonomy for the rest of the journey. What now consider multiple uses of the electric vehicle.

What the fast recharging ?

The recharge duration of an electric vehicle essentially depends on two factors: the characteristics of its battery and the type of terminal used. On this second point, we distinguish the “classic” terminals (delivering a power between 3 and 30 kW, by alternating current, or ” AC “) of the Quick charging stations (from 30 to more than 60 kW in direct current, or “DC”). But the performance of the vehicle battery also conditions the load speed. In particular, the power tolerated by the car charger is a key factor for a quick charging time.

In this regard, chameleon technology equipping Renault electric vehicles is a real asset: this intelligent charger adapts to the characteristics of the AC terminal to draw the maximum power. New Renault Zoe (with its Z battery.E. 50) can always boast of being the electric vehicle which recharges the fastest on the most widespread terminals in public space in Europe.

How much is a quick charge ?

If the calculation of the price of the recharging of an electric car is done on a case -by -case basis, it is nevertheless noted that in France, the cost generally oscillates between 3 and 5 euros for 30 minutes on a quick charging station, which makes The very accessible service. In other European countries, rapid recharging is mainly billed at the kilowatt hour issued. For example, the price for a 30 kWh “full” is around 9 euros in England and 12 euros in Germany.

In addition to the paid terminals, we observe the multiplication of parking spaces offering free fast recharging (shopping center parking lots). The opportunities to recharge your vehicle quickly, at a lower cost, are becoming more and more numerous.

Where can we take advantage of these quick charging stations ?

If the public charging points are multiplying, the fast electric car charging station meets a need for autonomy over long distances. As such, rapid load networks are mainly focused on motorways and national roads. The creation of “road corridors” then allows you to calmly consider a journey over several hundred kilometers.

In addition, detecting an effective loyalty lever, several brands – IKEA or LIDL, notably on a European scale – develop the installation of fast charging stations. Thanks to this clever investment, motorists turn into customers during the charging time of their vehicle.

Road axes, urban and peri -urban areas… operators seek to invest all territories. For the happiness of the fans of the electric who see the flower of the new rapid charging stations in their city or on their route.

The fast charge on Renault Zoe

The most popular electric vehicle in Europe, the Renault Zoe city car is the ideal example to appreciate the benefits of fast charging. Thus, when the new ZOE returns to 125 km WLTP* of autonomy in 2 hours on a road point in roads, it only takes 30 minutes to recover up to 150 km WLTP on a quick charging station *.

In addition, Renault facilitates access to rapid charging thanks to its connected services. While the My Renault application indicates the charging stations identified on a route.

Thanks to these services and the performance of its battery, the rapid load of Renault Zoe is a formality and the electric driving experience is simplified !

The future of fast recharging: the best is to come

The initiatives to develop rapid charging possibilities are numerous. By 2020, in France, 4 out of 10 terminals will offer rapid recharge; A ratio already found in November 2019 in the United Kingdom. (against around 10 % today). This trend will serenely support the boom in the electric vehicle (11 million sales of electric vehicles expected worldwide in 2025, according to the Bloomberg New Energy Finance organization).

But that’s not all. In order to anticipate the needs of their future vehicles, the manufacturers are already preparing the land by deploying ultra-rapid charging stations. The “E-VIA E-Flex” program initiated by the Renault group aims, for example, to deploy these terminals on the road axes in southern Europe, first.

Other projects are preparing today behind the scenes. There is no doubt that upcoming technological innovations will further anchor the reality of fast recharge in our daily lives.

* The duration and distance values ​​mentioned here are calculated from the results obtained by new ZOE during the WLTP (Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Procedure, Standardized Cycle: 57 % Urban Trades, 25 % of Peri- urban, 18 % of journeys on the highway), which aims to represent the conditions of real use of vehicles. However, they do not presume the type of journey chosen after recharging. The recharging time and the recovered autonomy also depend on the temperature, the wear of the battery, the power delivered by the terminal, the driving style and the level of charge level.

Copyrights: Christian Fournier, Frithjof Ohm