The future of superchargers looks to be green and smart

2nd March 2017

Alice Matthews

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As a result of aggressive marketing efforts, there is high visibility for fast-charging applications. However, using supercharging as a selling point has meant that the hype has outpaced research efforts. Once the technology matches the most demanding customer expectations, the intensity of marketing messages will fade. Current innovations have focused on analytics and making chargers more personalised to improve the efficiency and life of batteries.

“Technology growth will be driven by the convergence of charging protocols that support synchronous and asynchronous communications, enabling businesses and users to choose simple, but more powerful charging tools,” noted Hafiz Amin, TechVision Research Analyst, Frost & Sullivan. “Intelligent, personalised chargers that combine analytics, machine learning and advanced automation will be the next generation of chargers. Developers will also scale vertically by developing batteries with faster charging processes and higher capacity.”

Recent research from Frost & Sullivan’s TechVision (Information & Communication) Growth Partnership Service programme, Supercharging Within Minutes: Opportunities in Key Application Sectors, found that the regional hot spots for fast charging related to Consumer Electronics (CE) are North America and Asia-Pacific because of the presence of many multinational corporations involved in R&D. For fast charging related to Electric Vehicles (EVs), Asia-Pacific and Europe are the innovation leaders due to high government support.

Although supercharging is making rapid strides, it is still a relatively nascent technology, battling typical challenges such as high costs and unstable mechanism. For instance, public Direct Current (DC) and EV Supply Equipment (EVSE) may cost up to $80,000 per station, which is almost 500% more than a level-2 charger. The biggest item of expenditure is charge station hardware, which accounts for nearly 43.75% of the total cost.

These challenges notwithstanding, companies have been making significant headway in supercharging technology, rolling out many products. Some of the prominent companies and their innovations include:

Proterra: Developed an overhead fast-charging configuration for electric buses. It is eight times faster than the CHAdeMO protocol and three times faster than Tesla Supercharger
Posicharge: Developed an intelligent fast charger for material handling equipment
LyteSystem: Developed a battery that can fully charge a 2,550mAh battery within ten minutes
Enavate: Developed an ultrafast charging battery that can charge up to 90% in 15 minutes
Qnovo: Developed algorithms known as Adaptive Pulse Modulation that optimise charging current for each cell to minimise the charging time

“Future product innovations will be aimed at delivering seamless and connected user experiences in a smarter, greener environment,” noted Amin. “Innovators are looking to embed new product capabilities and user experiences to stoke demand and user-base expansion. This will also drive energy ownership, which is an offshoot of the Smart Cities concept, wherein instead of plug and play, users will plug, learn and play.”