Huawei has just installed its first ultra-fast charging stations for electric cars. And the brand is thinking big, since it wants to install no less than 100,000 of these stations capable of increasing autonomy by 600 km in 10 minutes, everywhere in China.
Station de recharge Huawei
For several years, sales of electric cars have continued to progress, with an increase of 37% in January 2023 compared to 2022. However, certain aspects still hold back motorists, starting with the price and the range.
A lightning charge
In fact, many drivers believe they need at least 400 kilometers to be truly reassured. However, we know that this reasoning is erroneous, especially if the cars are compatible with the very fast charging.
This allows you to ride far without wasting a lot of time, as Norwegian YouTuber Bjørn Nyland demonstrated with his 1,000 kilometer test. This is particularly why manufacturers are working to develop batteries capable of filling up more quickly.
The Avatr 12, co-developed by Huawei // Source: Avatr
We are thinking in particular of CATL with its Qilin CTP 3.0, among others, which can charge in just 10 minutes. But it is still necessary to have terminals efficient enough to deliver the power necessary to reach this figure. If we think in particular of the Ionity stations, which reach 350 kW, other equipment manufacturers are now doing much better.
This is for example the case of Nio and Lotus, but also of Huawei. And for good reason, the Chinese smartphone giant unveiled last year a terminal delivering up to 600 kW.
The first Huawei fast charging station // source: Huawei
The latter has just been put into service in Shenzhen, in the south of the country. But the firm, based in the same city, does not want to stop there. This is how it announces that it wants to go even further, as explained by the Car News China site. A few days ago, the company behind Avatr and Deepal organized a major conference to announce its ambitions. And suffice to say that the latter are very large, especially with regard to the load.
Indeed, the firm explains that it plans to install these terminals throughout the country, which would make it possible to gain one kilometer per second. Fully filling the battery of a Tesla Model 3 Propulsion, which has a range of 554 kilometers, would take less than ten minutes. An incredible feat, which would be made possible by liquid cooling of its rapid terminal.
Rapid development
This solution is also popular with Tesla for its Megachargers intended for its electric Semi, capable of deliver up to 1 MWh. Furthermore, it is also the technique that was studied by NASA, in order to design technology capable of charging an electric car in just five minutes.
Huawei therefore plans to install no less than 100,000 liquid-cooled stations in China over the coming years. These will be open to other manufacturers, whether Nio, Xpeng or even Tesla. Relayed by the AutoHome site, He Bo, in charge of energy-related solutions within the company, explains that fast charging is set to develop massivelytaking precedence over less powerful terminals which will eventually be abandoned.
Station Huawei // Source : Huawei
The Chinese firm also wants to develop its own energy storage solutionsaware that the demand for electricity is expected to increase significantly over the coming years.
As Tesla wants to do with its V4 Superchargers, Huawei wants to offer bidirectional charging solutions, which would allow reinject energy into the network when demand is at its highest. And this by storing the latter when the network is less under tension.