ABB fast-charging station for electric vehicles launched at a Lidl store
ABB has supplied its fast-charging station for electric vehicles to the new Lidl store in Barrandov, Prague. The Terra 53 CJG fast-charging station includes a special ABB application that uses the capabilities of ABB Ability™ digital offering, allowing DC-based charging network monitoring and control.
This type of charging station has been installed at Lidl stores all over Europe. There are already more than 100 charging stations in operation in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Slovakia, Poland, France, Switzerland, Spain and Hungary.
The electric vehicle market is growing. In 2016, the sales of e-cars grew 40 percent as compared to 2015. This trend is expected to continue in the years to come, including the increase in the number of customers that will use their e-cars to go shopping.
“Lidl is taking the right direction, which will sooner or later inspire the whole retail market. Vehicle charging at large stores, shopping centers and office buildings will be increasingly popular. An electric vehicle can be recharged while the driver is shopping or having a meeting. However, the stations need to become more powerful to shorten the charging time to the minimum possible and to adapt to customers’ needs,” explained Tanja Vainio, Country Managing Director, ABB Czech Republic.
Over 5,000 ABB charging stations globally
ABB‘s charging stations comply with three international charging standards – for DC charging CHAdeMO, which is the fast charging standard of choice for the Kia Soul EV, Citroen, Mitsubishi EVs, Peugots, and Nissan and the Combined Charging Solution (CCS), which is the fast charging standard of choice for Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Daimler, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Porsche, Volkswagen, Volvo and now the new Model 3 Tesla, together with the AC charging standard (Type 2 Standard). The stations are therefore suitable for all types of electric cars available on the market. ABB is at the forefront of this technology, providing up to 65 percent of fast charging stations in Europe. So far, the company has sold over 5,000 DC charging points worldwide.
Less than half an hour charging time
Two technologies are currently used to charge electric cars – charging with alternate or direct current. Alternate current allows you to charge cars depending on the power of the charger built into the vehicle. So, with today’s battery sizes, those with 3.6 kW chargers will charge for 8 to 10 hours, those with 7.2 kW chargers – for 5 to 6 hours, and those with max. 22kW chargers – for about an hour.
DC charging is a newer technology and is available for all electric cars, allowing battery charging from 0 to 80 percent in as little as half an hour. Due to the technological limitations of the battery and its tendency to overheat, the last stage of charging, takes place with lower power.
Electro-mobility in cloud and ABB Ability
An important part of Lidl’s contract are ”Driver Care“ and “charger Care” – packages of communication and charging station managing systems. With those applications, Lidl will be able to constantly monitor the parameters of its charging points, including the power consumption for each of them, or to calculate statistics over a defined period.
“As a standard, our stations are connected to a dedicated cloud, allowing monitoring of the device in real time or conduct remote diagnostics. This also makes it possible to plan the maintenance properly to eliminate potential failures and to put in place an action plan within the shortest possible time. This significantly accelerates the entire maintenance and service process. Combined with an integrated predictive maintenance application on the Microsoft Azure platform, the system can respond before a failure impairs the quality of service. The reliability of the station’s quick operation is crucial in e-mobility”, says Frank Mühlon, head of ABB’s global EV Charging Infrastructure.
All processes of collecting and processing data from the station are a part of ABB Ability™, which includes more than 180 digital solutions and services. Thanks to industry expertise and capabilities of internet connections, as well as the latest digital technologies, these solutions can significantly improve ABB clients’ operational efficiency and productivity in a number of areas.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a pioneering technology leader in electrification products, robotics and motion, industrial automation and power grids, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally. Continuing a more than 125-year history of innovation, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalization and driving the Energy and Fourth Industrial Revolutions. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 132,000 employees.
Source: ABB
