Volkswagen has offered up a glimpse of a future mobile fast charging station that can be set up flexibly and independently of the local power supply – for example, as a temporary charging point at events (somewhat like Envision Solar’s EV ARC or FreeWire’s Mobi Charger).

Each charging station provides DC charging at power levels up to 100 kW, and can charge up to four vehicles simultaneously (two DC and two AC), including E-bikes. The total battery storage capacity of up to 360 kWh is sufficient for up to 15 charges. The mobile charging column can also be connected to the power grid.

“The mobile charging stations can be set up anywhere as required – with or without connection to the power supply,” says Thomas Schmall, Chairman of the Board of Volkswagen Group Components.

VW’s mobile charger is based on the battery pack of the Volkswagen Group’s Modular Electric Toolkit (MEB), so VW could quickly scale up production, and could also power it with second-life EV batteries.

VW plans to set up some of the mobile quick charging stations as a pilot project in its hometown in the first half of 2019, and to expand the program to other cities in 2020.

“This flexibility enables a completely new approach for the rapid expansion of the charging infrastructure,” said Schmall. “Cities can, for example, find out the most suitable places for a permanent charging point before making major investments in developing the network. It will [also] be possible to set up a large number of charging stations temporarily – exactly when and where they are needed.”

Source: Volkswagen