Four bigwigs of the automotive world - Ford, Daimler representing Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen representing Audi and Porsche - have signed an agreement to collaboratively roll out a network of EV charging stations along the highways of Europe.
These locations will be outfitted with chargers that can output 350kW (current Tesla Supercharger stations support up to 145kW) with work starting in 2017 for a planned 1000 stations spread across the continent.
As work progresses on the charging network, the group says that new advances in battery and charging infrastructure will allow high-capacity vehicle battery charging to be as quick and convenient as refuelling a typical car is today.
However, only cars that support the CCS (Combined Charging system) charging standard will be able to use the highway-strewn chargers. Current-day fully electric cars such as the BMW i3 and Renault Zoe as well as hybrid vehicles such as the BMW i8 already use the it, and this will be definite push toward establishing CCS as an industry default once these manufacturers and their subsidiaries begin supporting it from the get-go.
Competing charging standards such as ChaDeMo used by Nissan and the PSA Group stand to suffer diminished support and sales due to this infrastructure lock-in and Tesla cars with their proprietary Supercharging technology will also not be able to make use of the future network.
Naturally, the long term goal of this newly minted partnership involves bringing the future of electrified vehicles closer to reality sooner than its previous rate of progress, and to that end more manufacturers and collaborators are invited to participate.
A large concern with the future of battery-powered electric vehicles lie in charging them up. Namely the rate at which their energy reserves can be replenished, how long that might take, and the ease at which a driver can reach a charging location.
“The breakthrough of e-mobility requires two things: convincing vehicles and a comprehensive charging infrastructure. With our new brand EQ, we are launching our electric product offensive: by 2025, our portfolio will include more than 10 fully electric passenger cars," says Dr. Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.
"Together with our partners, we are now installing the highest-powered charging infrastructure in Europe. The availability of high-power stations allows long-distance e-mobility for the first time and will convince more and more customers to opt for an electric vehicle.”
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