Designwerk building megawatt charging station for trucks

From the spring of next year, it will be possible to charge electric truck batteries within the space of just 45 minutes. To achieve this, Designwerk Technologies AG is currently in the process of constructing one of the world’s first megawatt charging stations. According to a press release issued by the Winterthur-based firm, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) and renowned industrial partners will support the technical developments for these container-sized charging stations. Both the Bern University of Applied Sciences and OST - Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences are also involved in the project.

The collaborative demonstration project aims to make electrically powered trucks suitable for long-distance journeys and ease the burden on power grids. “Innovative charging infrastructure is needed, especially for long-distance trucks, as well as ships and airplanes”, explains Vivien Dettwiler, Member of the Executive Board at Designwerk, before adding: “It differs from the infrastructure for electric cars and makes it possible to charge commercial HGVs within a short space of time. This will help to ensure that zero-emission freight transport can gain ground across all application areas”.

The new charging station is said to be up to six times faster than conventional high-performance charging stations with an output of 350 kilowatts. The project will aim to show how a high-performance charging network and supply security do not have to be mutually exclusive aspects. “In our charging containers, we install Second Life e-truck batteries as buffers to prevent load peaks”, Dettwiler comments. “This not only eliminates the need for grid expansion, but should also enable renewable electricity to be fed back into the grid from the storage facility”, he concludes.