The race for the fastest car charging network is going at a cut-throat pace among Chinese EV makers. Xpeng has now announced a new charging architecture that will deliver up to 187 miles (300km) of range for just 5 minutes of charge. The Xpeng S5 charging stations have a capacity of 800kW and the new system is expected to be operational in the third quarter of the year.

Theoretically, the new Xpeng S5 charging station is more powerful than the brand’s previous 480kW charging piles, NIO’s 500kW and 640kW systems, and the Zeekr 600kW chargers. The new intervention by Xpeng could be the leader for some time with its 800kW power capability. The S5 charging station has an 800v current output and 1000v voltage. It is a liquid-cooled station that even eclipses the Tesla Supercharger or any other EV charger in the market.

The race for the fastest car charging network is going at a cut-throat pace among Chinese EV makers. Xpeng has now announced a new charging architecture that will deliver up to 187 miles (300km) of range for just 5 minutes of charge. The Xpeng S5 charging stations have a capacity of 800kW and the new system is expected to be operational in the third quarter of the year.

The Xpeng S5 charging station is arguably the world’s fastest EV charger and can add more than 1km of range for every second of charging. The new race for the ultimate charging system will certainly continue among EV makers in China. Chinese EV manufacturers have been building EVs with high-end 800v or 900v powertrain platforms but the requisite power infrastructure has been lacking. Now there are several ultra-fast electric vehicle charging stations, thanks to the efforts of NIO, Xpeng, Zeekr, and other EV makers.

Electric vehicle battery manufacturers such as BYD and CATL have also developed batteries that support super-fast charging while maintaining reliability and durability. The number of stations that are capable of delivering ultra-high charging speeds is now on the increase. The Xpeng 800kW charging station network will be operational from Q3 2024 but the brand projects up to 1,000 fast EV charging networks by 2026.

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A large electric vehicle (EV) charging network is important for several reasons. It allows EV owners to have the confidence to travel long distances without worrying about running out of charge. This is particularly important for those who rely on their vehicles for work or travel, and need to make frequent long trips. Secondly, a large charging network helps to promote the adoption of EVs, by making it more convenient and accessible for drivers. With more charging stations available, drivers are more likely to consider purchasing an EV as their primary mode of transportation. By providing a network of charging stations, drivers can be assured that they will be able to find a place to charge their vehicle when needed, thereby alleviating their fears about running out of charge. Amidst the rising popularity of Electric Vehicles in the United States, Walmart has announced that even more multiple locations of the billion-dollar shopping franchise will be equipped with EV charging stations in the near future.

This massive expansion plan by the company aims to be fully implemented by 2030, but the exact number of locations to be added to the network has not yet been disclosed by the company. Walmart currently operates 1,300 EV fast-charging stations in more than 280 retail stores and affiliated facilities, and this expansion is expected to provide even more accessibility for EV drivers.

In a statement by Vishal Kapadia, Senior Vice President of Energy Transformation at Walmart, he emphasized the importance of convenient access to on-the-go charging, which can help boost EV ownership even in rural areas. While the company is still looking for energy suppliers, it has confirmed that each participating store will receive four chargers, and energy prices will be kept low. The initiative is part of Walmart’s broader commitment to reducing its environmental impact, which also includes transitioning to electric vehicles for deliveries and achieving “zero emissions” for all supply chain vehicles by 2040.

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(Via)

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XPeng has just announced that it is launching its first batch of S4 super fast charging stations for electric vehicles in China. Earlier today (17th February 2023), the company rolled out these new EV charging stations in two major cities.

The Chinese smart electric vehicle maker had first introduced their S4 super fast charging stations for EVs back in 2022. And now, the company is finally releasing the first batch of these EV charging stations in the city of Shenzhen and Guangzhou. This wasn’t the only milestone since the brand also announced that it has managed to launch more than a 1,000 self operated charging stations that cover all prefecture level administrative regions and municipalities across the region.

As of right now, XPeng Motors has 58 charging stations in Shenzhen, out of which 5 are the new S4 super fast charging stations, 22 of these are its self operated charging stations (including its S4), and a total of 36 for its third party charging stations. On the other hand, it has a total of 79 charging stations in Guangzhou, out of these 6 are S4 super fast charging stations, 52 self operated XPend charging stations (includes S4 models as well), and 27 from third party charging stations.

In other words, the electric vehicle manufacturer is clearly focusing on expanding its network, which would help EV owners and prospective buyers in the future. With such a robust network in China, XPeng car owners can rest easy with the vast number of charging stations during trips between these cities as well.

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Shell is set to making a new acquisition as it expands its presence in the electric vehicle market in the US. The company is buying out Volta, which is an electric vehicle charging station for around 169 million US Dollars. So here are all the details.

The gasoline giant is aiming on closing this major deal sometime within the first half of this year. For those unaware, Volta isn’t the first of its kind deal, rather, it is the second US EV charging starting that the company has acquired. Its last acquisition of a similar firm was Greenlots, which was purchased by Royal Dutch Shell back in 2019. As of right now, Volta operates over 3,000 destination charging stations across 31 states and even has chargers in Europe.

As per official notes, the company is also planning to install another 3,400 EV charging stations. Although, the timeline for this step is currently unknown. Back in 2022, Volta was ranked second in terms of customer satisfaction for Level 2 chargers, being second only to Tesla. In other words, this acquisition will clearly help position Shell in the overall EV market. Volta also operates stations in high traffic retail parking lots as well and provides free electricity for EV owners.

So, its main source of revenue is its ad displays that are used by advertising clients. Interestingly enough, the latest purchase from Shell is also quite notable since it isn’t common for oil and gas companies to acquire EV charging networks. But now, the acquisition of Volta along with Greenlots will have Shell own a total of more than 57,000 charging stations. These stations will also be renamed as Shell Recharge Solutions.

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(Via)

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Over the years, the electric vehicle industry has been rapidly growing and as more and more road users are using electric vehicles (EVs), the number of EV charging stations should also increase not only to meet demand but also for the convenience of topping up the EV wherever whenever.

As the world’s largest market for EVs, China knows that for EVs to be accessible to the general public, not only do they have to be affordable but also widely available and convenient to use. Thus, the country has publicly owned (not privately owned) EV charging stations that can charge most non-proprietary EVs on the road. 

The China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, abbreviated as EVCIPA, has published a report this week that announces that the country has successfully built 87,000 new public EV charging stations across the country in just only the month of May 2022, compared YoY to 2021, the number of EV charging stations has increased by 60.5%.

As of May 2022, the EVCIPA reported that there are a total of 1.419 million public EV charging stations across the entire country of China, which include 613 thousand DC charging stations, 806 thousand AC charging stations, and 485 AC-DC integrated charging stations.

In the report, EVCIPA notes the top 10 provinces that have the most public EV charging stations in the country (as of May 2022) and its ranking is as shown:

1. Guangdong – 281,000 units
2. Shanghai – 109,000 units
3. Jiangsu – 107,000 units
4. Zhejiang – 103,000 units
5. Beijing – 102,000 units
6. Hubei – 81,000 units
7. Shandong – 71,000 units
8. Anhui – 67,000 units
9. Henan – 55,000 units
10. Fujian – 51,000 units

The report notes that just these 10 provinces account for 72.3% of all public EV charging stations available across the country. The electricity generated is mainly utilised on electric buses and privately owned electric vehicles, with honourable mentions such as China’s electric logistics vehicles and electric taxis, that account for a smaller proportion of the transportation electricity grid.

In May 2022, the total EV charging electricity power consumption nationwide was about 1.56 billion kWh in a month, an increase of 140 million kWh from the previous month, an increase of 83.1% year-on-year, and a month-on-month increase of 10.0%.

China’s public EV charging infrastructure however is not monopolised by only one company, instead, EVCIPA notes that there are 15 top companies in the country operating the EV charging stations for the public. The full list of the Top 15 companies is as follows with their units of charging stations in China counted:

1. Xingxing Charge – 278,000 units
2. Special Call – 277,000 units 
3. State Grid – 196,000 units
4. Cloud Quick Charge – 178,000 units
5. Xiaoju Charger –  71,000 units
6. Weijingyun – 51,000 units
7. Shenzhen Automotive Power Grid – 46,000 units 
8. China Southern Power Grid –  41,000 units
9. Yiwei Energy –  37,000 units
10. Huijingyun –  33,000 units
11. SAIC Anyue –  24,000 units
12. Wanma Aichong – 23,000 units 
13. Wancheng Wancharge – 22,000 units
14. China Potevio – 21,000 units
15. Weilan Quick Charger – 13,000 units

All these 15 charging station operators accounted for 92.4% of the total public EV charging stations across the country, and the remaining operators accounted for 7.6% of the total figure.

On a closing note, the report findings state that despite more EVs on the road, EV users need not worry about fighting for a spot at the charging station because EV charging stations are popping up in the country more rapidly than ever. In fact, the current ratio of stations to EVs in China is 1:2.1, which means that the construction of new EV charging stations can still keep up with the demand from EV users on the road.

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(Via)

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