The year 2024 is seen as a critical year for the large-scale adoption of ultra-fast charging technology, marking a new stage in electric vehicle (EV) charging technology. "Ultra-fast charging" refers to high-power direct current (DC) charging that can significantly reduces charging time, charging to 80% in half an hour or less. Typically, charging power above 120kW is considered fast charging, while above 300kW is classified as ultra-fast charging. Among them, 300kW is the mainstream standard for ultra-fast charging stations. In terms of charging time, more than 2 hours is considered slow charging, 2 hours to half an hour is fast charging, and less than 10 minutes is ultra-fast charging.
There are two main technical routes for ultra-fast charging:
On the technical side, third-generation semiconductor power devices, represented by silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), have achieved mass production. These technologies not only improve efficiency significantly but also enable high voltage. Since last year, high-rate 4C cells have also been mass-produced, with costs similar to regular fast-charging cells. These factors make the trend toward ultra-fast charging unstoppable.
Ultra-fast charging meets the significant new demand in the charging service market and provides an upgrade path for aging slow chargers. More importantly, Ultra-fast charging can effectively solve the charging anxiety of new energy vehicle owners and is one of the ways for new energy vehicles to make up for their shortcomings.
Despite the promising outlook, large-scale ultra-fast charging deployment still faces many practical challenges. The primary bottleneck is technological iteration. High-voltage fast chargers still face multiple challenges, including the durability of modules and cables under higher voltage, heat dissipation and energy loss at higher currents and switching frequencies, and safety and stability under harsh conditions, as well as cost control from construction planning and operators. Additionally, the high power demand of ultra-fast charging stations puts significant pressure on existing power grids, which are currently insufficient to support their concentrated deployment.
However, technological improvement is only one aspect. In terms of operations, the charging station industry faces issues such as low utilization rates of public charging piles, poor profitability, intense competition, and difficulties in expanding into overseas markets. Ultra-fast charging stations, with their fast charging speeds and high investment costs, require more EVs to charge at them to recoup the investment, which demands higher standards for site selection and operations.
In conclusion, the large-scale deployment of ultra-fast charging requires collaboration among multiple parties to build a complete ecosystem. This involves charging station manufacturers, battery producers, power grid operators, car manufacturers. It also requires the government's resource coordination and guidance to carry out overall planning for the ultra-fast charging network.