Bi-directional booster at Power2Drive

Juice’s exhibition at the Power2Drive international trade fair in Munich will be all about bi-directional charging. From 19–21 June 2024, visitors will have the opportunity to witness this innovation first hand.

Importance of the bi-directional AC solution

Bi-directional DC charging stations are expensive. Because of this financial hurdle, bi-directional charging solutions have been slow to develop. Juice Technology has overcome this barrier and developed an affordable bi-directional AC solution based on the globally available JUICE BOOSTER. In addition to plug adapters, the bi-directional version also allows you to connect socket adapters.

The AC solutions currently available on the market are often unwieldy and usually require additional devices such as dongles or adapters. What’s more, these solutions are typically limited to specific applications such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-load (V2L) or vehicle-to-home (V2H). The market in general remains quite modest, and the number of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) solutions is particularly limited.

Juice aims to overcome this fragmentation and develop a comprehensive, future-proof, and cost-effective solution that covers all uni-directional and bi-directional charging scenarios with a single device – and one that can still be used as a mobile charging station on over 35 different power outlets. Development is already ongoing, with an eye to future norms and standards that will facilitate the use and integration of this technology.

Establishing partnerships and standards

To develop a future-proof two-way AC solution, it is crucial that all relevant stakeholders are involved early on so that new communication standards can be established.

“Our goal is to combine all functions into one device”, explains Christoph Erni, CEO and Founder of Juice Technology. “Partnerships are essential to the development of our two-way solution, in particular how stored energy will be fed back into the grid (V2G). We want to get more players on board to work with OEMs (car manufacturers) and energy suppliers to develop new standards and norms.”

Initial development partnerships with OEMs and energy suppliers have already been established. These collaborations are crucial to ensure that the bi-directional AC solution can be recognised and interpreted across all vehicle models and brands.

With two representatives on the relevant standards committees for fixed and mobile charging stations – including an electrical engineering specialist and the CEO himself – Juice Technology will play a central role in standardising the electric mobility industry.