Two companies, ZapGo (developer of batteries) and AS Green Cube Innovation (operator of fueling station chains) announced a new joint venture to commercialize ultra-fast charging stations with ZapGo’s Carbon-Ion (C-Ion) ESS in Norway.

The idea is to build charging stations for various vehicles, from 350 kW (cars) to 1.2 MW (trucks, buses or ferries) without the need for public infrastructure investments. Batteries recharged at night or off-peak would be utilized during the day/peak periods.

Two initial units will be deployed at AS Green Cube Innovation’s existing charging stations in the greater Oslo, Norway area will begin mid-2020.

Currently, there are no cars able to charge at such high rates as 350 kW to 1,200 kW, but it seems that the next-generation of EV trucks will be gravitating towards 1 MW or more. The new initiative seems to be addressing the needs of the EVs in the coming years when battery storage will become a necessity in many places.

Is this enough to differentiate itself on the market? Well, that depends on the price of service and reliability.

"The design goal of a 350kW charger is to transfer around 100kWh (kilowatt-hours) of energy in 15 minutes to a vehicle. 100kWh is required to drive an electric sports utility vehicle (SUV) 300 miles (or about 500km) at freeway or Autobahn speeds, with more than one passenger and with normal air conditioning or heating. To transfer 100kWh in five minutes would require a 1,200kW or 1.2MW charger. ZapGo is a member of the EV international standards body CharIn, which is also developing standards for 1.2MW electric trucks with the design goal of transferring 1MWh of energy to an electric truck in one hour. 1MWh of energy is required to power a fully loaded 18-wheeler heavy truck for 300 miles (or about 500km) at freeway or Autobahn speeds."

Stephen Voller, CEO of ZapGo said:

“Norway is the ideal initial market for ZapGo’s ultra-fast charging technology, due to the high concentration of electric vehicles in use. According to the Norwegian Road Federation, about 60 percent of new car sales in March 2019 were EVs. Drivers who live in apartments or travel long distances will require much faster charging at service stations, because they will not want to wait for hours queuing at public chargers and won’t be able to plug in at home.”

Jon Erik Brøndmo, Chairman of AS Green Cube Innovation said: