Volkswagen: New Charging Station Recharges Your EV In 17 Minutes

Volkswagen Charging Station Concept Art
Volkswagen Charging Station - Source: Volkswagen

Volkswagen has announced their new mobile EV charging stations. As the company is getting ready to launch their new all-electric I.D. lineup, they are also working on solutions for the infrastructure and grid needed to support them.

In the simplest sense, the new charging station is just a big battery. It’s like the power bank you use to charge our phone, only this one is for your car.

The charging station is mobile and independent of the power grid. Volkswagen says you can install it anywhere you need it – parking lots, company premises, concerts, and other large-scale events. It can be relocated as the demand moves from one spot to another.

It’s a relatively small unit, measuring roughly 1x1x2 meters in size. A couple of them can easily fit in the back of a utility truck. Volkswagen suggests that a truck with an embedded crane can go around town, servicing and replacing them as needed.

Volkswagen Charging Station Concept Art
Volkswagen Charging Station – Source: Volkswagen

With a capacity of 360 kWh, the station can recharge up to 15 electric vehicles before its spent. It can be integrated with the power grid with up to 30kW AC connection and it will top itself up continuously.

When connected to a generator or a renewable power source, the station can act as power storage, accumulating electricity to be used when needed. In this sense, it resembles Tesla’s Power Wall, only this one is mobile and more flexible.

The VW charging station has two AC and two DC connectors, and can simultaneously charge up to 4 vehicles or e-bikes. According to Volkswagen, it’s able to charge a 28 kWh battery in 17 minutes average, which corresponds to:

  • 80% of a Volkswagen e-Golf – good for 109 miles
  • 71% of a 2018 Nissan Leaf – good for 110 miles
  • 37% of a Tesla Model 3 – good for 110 miles

The above is assuming your car is at 0% when you plug in. 100 miles are plenty for your daily driving and you can always just leave your car plugged in for longer.

Volkswagen’s mobile EV charging station will launch as a pilot project in Wolfsburg, Germany early 2019 and will further grow through 2020.

It’s very much an experiment, but it’s good to hear Volkswagen is researching solutions for strengthening the grid in anticipation of widespread vehicle electrification. It signifies that VW is taking electrification seriously and that their I.D. lineup is more than a marketing campaign to clean the company’s name off of the emissions scandal.