The myth of charging megawatts – and why Porsche doesn’t think it’s the answer to smoother EV trips
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Although the battle for EVs with the longest range may have been demolished, a new weapon race has started in place – and it’s all about loading speeds.
In China, some of the world’s most recognizable car and tech brands are challenging to see who can force electrons in a battery package at the most impressive rates.
After all, if these giants of the industry can consistently bring loading times in accordance with setting up an internal combustion motor vehicle, access to the history will essentially be banned into the history books and the extra weight, resources and financial fines of larger battery packages are no longer a problem.
But while the so-called Megawatt Ultrasnelle Charging (slightly above 1,000 kW) has tongues that wag with the pure physics-bending nature of all this, some believe that the road to two-minute tops will not be so smooth.
During a recent battery technology workshop for electric vehicles in the R&D facility of Porsche in Weissach, the company spoke honestly and extensively about its own way to electrification, which marked the enormous jumps it made with the current generation of Taycan and what the future has in store.
When demanding the current trend for Megawatt Charging, said Porsche’s development leader in high-voltslithium ion batteries, Carlos Alberto Cordova Tineo, said that although it is impressive, he does not think it is the future for everyone.
“It is relatively easy to demonstrate this kind of ultrasnelle on a test bench, but working in the real world is a much more difficult task. There are just as many factors to consider charging these rates,” he told me.
One of the most important problems for Porsche is the battery life, because the company wants its cars to offer the same type of row sensation in 20 to 30 years as when they roll from the production line.
Current residual values of Porsche’s EVs Opzij, the company’s cars generally remain enormously sought after items, with many who become collectable objects.
“All lithium ion batteries suffer a first capacity of 2-5%in the first few years, but it is our job to manage the battery health for the rest of the vehicle’s life,” adds Cordova Tineo.
One of the factors that can lead to “sudden death” in a battery – or the point where the performance is quickly considered what is normal – loads consistently with extreme speeds, of which Cordova Tineo says it can lead to lithium plating and a huge reduction in battery performance.
“That is why we use stepped charging, whereby the power is gradually increased while the battery reaches the optimum condition of cargo, reducing because it marks the 70 or 80 percent and then slows down at the end,” he explains.
Real-WORLD Results
Although Porsche would not exclude new innovations in the charging of electric vehicles, it is not hurriedly jumping on the Megawatt -Bandwagon.
Otmar Bitsche, senior consultant in the development of batteries and one of the company’s longest EV engineers, says that the charging figures coming from China are good for PR, but not always practical in the real world “.
“The physics of all this is complex and this is before we even take into account the infrastructure that is needed to make it work,” he added.
During a Real-World demonstration in China, Inside EVs reported that BYD’s Han L, the first is to use his Super E-platform with the latest flash battery, would pull 767 kW of power until it reached a load state of 40% (SOC), stable 633 kW to the 50% reached and then dropped to 463 kW when it reached 60%.
In general, the car won 262 miles in about five minutes. Impressive things.
But despite the statements of BYD that quickly charging the battery has no influence on the warranty, the technology is not long enough for us to know in which state it will be after five or ten years, long after the warranty has been increased.
In addition, most of this next generation, ultras-fast Chinese packages, use a chemical makeup of lithium-ionfosphate (LFP), instead of the nickel cutter Kobalt (NMC) used by Porsche in his Taycan and Macan models.
Porsche is currently working to restore approximately 90% of the raw materials used in its NMC battery packages to drastically reduce dependence on mining.
Recycling fast loads LFP batteries, on the other hand, is generally considered a more complicated task and presents a weaker business case due to a lower economic value of their content.
Driving Dynamics Matter
The other key factor for Porsche is driving dynamics, perhaps one of the most important pillars of the brand.
Even his daily electric SUV, the formidable Macan, is An absolute Giller to drive And will give many modern sports cars an end to their money on the racing circuit.
Otmar Bitsche, senior consultant in the development of batteries, says that there is a delicate balance practice with overall weight, energy density and loading speeds, the perfect brew of which will go into the brand’s long -awaited electric sports cars.
Both the next 718 Boxster and Cayman will contain the next generation EV drivers of Porsche, where Bitsche claims that a range of approximately 370 miles on a single load would be “enough” for most sports cars.
The current 800V architecture of the company ensures a maximum loading speed of 270 kW, which is sufficient to bim the larger battery of the Taycan from 5% to 80% in just 22.5 minutes.
Expect the Boxster and Cayman to contain smaller packages and new built -in charging technology, so that they in turn will probably be charged even faster.
It is this notion of “being enough” for most users that Bitsche repeats when they are confronted with the subject of megawatts, because he feels that the extra technology and hardware that is needed to make it work, not only from the manufacturer, but the loading networks, has potential negative effects on the way in which a vehicle runs and a result.
An ultra -fast future
Just This weekThe Society of Automotive Engineers in the US has just published a new SAE J3400/2 Standard that defines the way in which a 1,000 KW-compatible North American charging standard connector and vehicle cost gate will look, which proves its confidence in the technology.
However, as some critics have noticed, even the Chinese Real-World demonstrations during the charging sessions are only a few seconds to 1,000 kW to 1,000 kW, before tapping to a steady 600 truths and then further fall back.
As a result, some insiders from the industry believe that it would be cheaper (and cheaper) to build a reliable network of 500 kW chargers that can supply such speeds for a larger part of the loading session.
For many, this would be the same as stopping 8 to 10 minutes, which is the equivalent of the time spent at most gas stations, according to one white paper.
Finally, and perhaps the most important thing for a brand like Porsche, Megawatt charging is still a relatively unknown, with little research available into the lifetime of battery technology after many years or its reliability in extreme weather conditions.
“Increasing loading efficiency and reducing loading times is one of our priorities,” says Dr. Matthias Goldsche, a physicist and battery expert at Porsche.
“But this is not the only thing, because we think the next generation of cars can become a Sweet Spot from acceptable day range for most of our customers, fast charging speeds, driving dynamics and the possibility of creating long-term, reliable and recyclable batteries,” he adds.
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