Alpitronic 400 kW EV Chargers Are Coming To The US: Why I think This Is A Big Deal

[@brandenflasch]

Thank you for coming out to Charlotte! Great to finally meet you in person.

[@thenetworkarchitectchannel]

Great to see the Queen city in the spot light. We have a good state for tech (EV & otherwise) to call home.

[@YeOldeTraveller]

Didn't you work for Circle K?

[@brandenflasch]

@@YeOldeTraveller previously, yes

[@douglaspierce7940]

@@YeOldeTraveller- I was thinking the same. - Perhaps this is an indicator of the “upcoming announcement” of other US partners for Alpitronic? inquiring minds want to know…. 😅

[@emschaub]

Brandon, where in Wisconsin are they manufactured?

[@borama7845]

In Europe, Alpis are reliable, reliable, reliable, reliable. All I need on a road trip.

[@simplygregsterev]

They work flawlessly!

[@lemongavine]

I like that 50kW unit. Looks slick. We need more 50kW chargers out there. They are great for shopping centers where you’ll spend more than 20 minutes. I’d rather see twenty 50kW chargers vs five 400kW units.

[@Joinusinfrance]

I charge on Alpitronics frequently in France (several companies use this hardware). Never saw one that didn’t work. They are GREAT!

[@joebullwinkle5099]

A solid player like Alpitronic is a very welcome addition to the EV DC fast charger rollout. What I would like to see is DC fast charging start to penetrate the more remote locations in the US. Having charging infrastructure in areas where there is little to no chargers will be very welcome. Also I hope these guys are ready for 800-1000V architecture that's coming in the next 5 years. Tom if you speak with Tesla, if you could tel them to stop installing V3 chargers. They should be installing only V4 as they open up to more and more manufacturers.

[@simplygregsterev]

Alpitronic equipment is absolutely fantastic. It will be great to start using it in USA/Canada! They are everywhere in Europe!

[@PierreSimonsson]

sort of yes but there is a competiotor from Finland ;) that is as good or maybe better :)

[@junehanzawa5165]

​@@PierreSimonsson Yes, Kempower chargers are fantastic and just as good.

[@johannesdopke538]

We have Alpitronic everywhere in Germany. They work extremely good. They are as good as Tesla Superchargers. All CPO‘s use them (Only Tesla use their own equipment). I would say they have a 80 - 90 percent market share in Germany without Tesla network.

[@kybrowns]

Best EV news we have had in a while.

[@Jannik_1020]

For people who are interested: a HYC400 costs about $110,000 (not including installation, power connection, etc.)

[@YordanGeorgiev]

I ve been using them in Romania and Bulgaria for tens of times. And did not let me down even once

[@cordkretzschmar5693]

I know these chargers (I think 300Kw) from Germany and i like them. Never had a problem with this chargers.

[@Gazer75]

Several CPOs in Norway use these. It's a mix of Alpitronic, ABB, Delta and others. Where I live the CPO uses mostly ABB and the old 50kW units have a tendency to have issues. Lots of broken holders for the Chademo plug on them. I guess they are getting pretty old as they were among the first after the Tritium Veefil 50kW units. The biggest issue I've seen is that some chargers have issues with some cars and others not. Like apparently MGs can't use Tesla SuC for some reason, unless it's been fixed. Apparently the bZ4X have issues with ABB Terra 360 units while working fine on Delta 200 units. I've had to switch charger a couple of time this past year in my e-Golf, both were old ABB 50kW units that was broken. But normally my e-Golf just works with any type of charger.

[@PierreSimonsson]

@@Gazer75 dont forget the best Charger :D and you know what i mean Gazer ;)

[@berthogendoorn2133]

Alpitronics need to come to Canada, we have so many dead and dying stations especially at many many Petro Canada stations and Electrified Canada, they could help resolve their totally unreliable chargers that were installed up to 6 years ago, but are never functioning for longer than a few weeks after repair!

[@havnfunb4]

Petro Canada are horrible. Electrify Canada here in NB so far so good as they are newer chargers

[@charliesullivan4304]

How are the Flo chargers holding up in Canada? I've had good experience them here in New England but they ones we have here are very new.

[@havnfunb4]

Flo seem to be pretty good. A lot of them here are older and slower but they seem to work good.

[@havnfunb4]

@@charliesullivan4304 out of spec just did a good video of the Flo headquarters in QC. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJDdqKmef81jkNUsi=m9b2_OqygAGTKAtl

[@WatermelonJellyBean]

Thanks for flying down for the day and giving us a glimpse inside their HQ. Proud that Alpitronic chose North Carolina for their HQ in the Americas. If the Mercedes strategic alliance with Simon delivers on their goal of charging locations at 55 Simon locations, then at some point there should be some Alpitronic chargers a few miles from me at the Carolina Premium Outlets in Smithfield.

[@tspurre]

Clever in Denmark has a lot of hyc300. I often charge them, and there is very rarely a failure. and if it finally does, it can almost always be fixed with remote control.

[@johnlabernik4599]

That power management feature will be huge. You can have a bolt and a Silverado EV charging off the same pedestal at full speed.

[@Gazer75]

Pretty much all chargers do this here in Europe. If they have two cables they adjust dynamically between the cars charging. Like the ABB Terra 360 units have 4x90kW modules in them. Delta 200 has 4x50kW modules. Kempower assign 50kW modules to the satellites as needed from the power stack cabinets.

[@newscoulomb3705]

A Silverado EV can mostly max out an Alpitronic unit on its own (at 370-380 kW peak).

[@Gazer75]

@@newscoulomb3705 Below 35% sure. Not going to make much difference in total time if someone else is using 50 or 100kW on the other plug. It starts dropping from around 360kW at 30% and is below 300 at 35%. Not sure if it's a fixed curve or if this drop is temperature dependent. Charging at a lower current early on might allow a flatter curve for longer.

[@newscoulomb3705]

@@Gazer75 No, if you're seeing it drop around 35%, that's likely a charger issue. Keep in mind that most 350 kW chargers can only provide 500 A up to 700 V, which is where they get their rating, and 35% to 40% should be around the point where the charging voltage reaches 700 V. The current parameters for Ultium appear to be unrestricted 500 A for 15 minutes before a sudden reduction. That reduction is due to charging socket and harness temperatures, so the battery can continue to take much more power than that for much longer. Even still, with the current derating parameters, starting at 10%, the Silverado EV will hit ~45% in 15 minutes before that taper even starts. To hit peak power, which occurs when the combined pack voltage is 760 V, the battery would need to be closer to 50-55%. At that point, even the 400 kW Alpitronic would be close to maxed out, and it certainly wouldn't have enough power left over to charge a Bolt EV at max speed.

[@Gazer75]

@@newscoulomb3705 These things use liquid cooled cables so will not derate as fast. Tbh most if not all 300kW or more units here in Europe do this AFAIK. Some CPOs might cheap out for sure. Those will get a bad rep quickly. Either way the total charging time will not change much if someone is using the other plug on a 400kW unit.

[@glenngore6609]

Now we know why there haven’t been any new videos from Brandon in quite a while. He is now working for this company. I certainly wish him well in this new job and REALLY hope that these new units actually work. It will probably be years before there is a significant number out in the field. I have heard a lot of ads on various podcasts and KZbin videos about “the #1 charger manufacturer in the world” and the “most chargers in the field of any manufacturer”, etc, but I have yet to see a single unit in the wild from any of those manufacturers. Star Charge comes to mind as one of those manufacturers, but they have nothing in the US at all.

[@brandenflasch]

@@glenngore6609 I've posted plenty of videos...

[@thenetworkarchitectchannel]

Super excited to see who the October sites will be. That is only a few weeks away.

[@laxtimercom]

Great video. Reliability is critical. Long term, low cost is going to be important. I read somewhere that Tesla chargers were 1/5th the cost of other charger types. That really surprises me, and I would like to know why other chargers are so much more expensive, and what they could do to better get to Tesla levels. Are Alpitronic chargers less expensive than other, non Tesla, chargers? If not, can they see a way to get to Tesla levels? If not, I don't see how any one can be competitive to Tesla's charger network.

[@Mobile_Dom]

Alpitronic hyperchargers, along with kempower units, \are the *only* DCFC I've never had a bad charge from, yes, even including tesla superchargers. the HYC150 is one of my favourite chargers to see implemented, they're small, pretty ,big screen etc and reliable. the HYC50, whilst im not a fan of installing more 50kW units, if we're gonna, they better be these small, easily upgradeable highly udsable models. I look forward to when alpitronic goes pulbic

[@jesseallen2116]

The company my husband works for in neenha wi is making some of these for them

[@tomtomcarter]

these chagers are very very good here in France & Europe. All the electra network has them ; I've never seen one down. I always take the max charge like on tesla v3 et v4. The chargers you have displayed in your video (the 400kw) is the only ones I've seen here.

[@jeeptomster]

Best High Power Chargers you can find! Great news for North America!!!

[@jeffs6090]

Hopefully when these installs happen, each unit has a CCS and a NACS cable on board.

[@junehanzawa5165]

Why have a soon to be absolite port on chargers/EV's that are meant to have NACS from the here on out. That's like keeping ChaDeMo ports till now just for that dying technology. All existing EV's will soon have NACS ports built in. Just use a NACS to CCS adapters. I think Alpitronics knows better that to waste money on that.

[@Apk07]

@Tom have you ever considered doing a video on why exactly DCFC's break down (aside from the obvious vandalism or theft)? Would be really interesting to see why EA and others have problems so often when seemingly nothing is wrong with a given stall besides the screen barking or being off.

[@Yanquetino]

Makes me wonder… what will the IONNA network install for DCFC…? Maybe the Mercedes and Pilot/FlyingJ/GM networks will shuffle together to form part of it…?

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

🤔

[@midnight4109]

It's encouraging to see how many companies are pursuing EVs and charging. For awhile it looked as if charging was going to be the luck of the Irish, except for Tesla but manufacturers and tech companies evidently have been hard at work to establish good, reliable, and available charge networks.

[@michaeldrake1681]

My local “Electrocute America” here in southern Arizona is simply horrible! Currently, two of the ten DC fast chargers are inoperable and one has its power reduced! I cannot remember the last time when all ten chargers were working properly! The two units not working have been this way for several weeks!

[@Sahkoautoseparempiauto]

These and Kempower are the best chargers in the market outside Tesla for sure!

[@dushandesilva2595]

Alpitrinic. Is different than the electricity America, charge point is in terms of in house development of there own charging infrastructure and maintenance of the chargers like Tesla. Instead of relying on third party repair companies. And if in American the end user learn to use the chargers and not be abusive towards the charger maybe the chargers won’t be broken down that often.

[@afterburner94]

I hope many of your US audience sees this, I'm joining the EU bandwaggon of commenters (French guy here) to laud the quality and reputation of Alpitronic hardware. These guys have been a staple of the EV charging network boom in the past couple of years in Europe. There are Alpitronic HPDC chargers everywhere in France and their uptime is unmatched. AmericansEV drivers are gonna love them.

[@PeaceChanel]

Thank You Everybody.. . Peace.. Shalom.. Salam.. Namaste

[@omamiwininikwe9414]

I hope they come to Canada too.

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

They will

[@punditgi]

Great news! 🎉😊

[@Miata822]

Good to see that Brandon landed on his feet. Nice charger with a good plan, but I wish that somebody would find a way to get a better user interface. I have yet to see a gas pump that I couldn't read because of the glare from the sun or that had been totally washed out by solar damage. Sure, that is largely due to most gas pumps being covered by an awning. A tamper wire inside a charging cable that, if cut, would set off lights, a siren, and called in like a burglar alarm seems like an easy add-on. Adding a mildly radioactive taggant (such as in smoke detectors) would make the copper much less valuable in the scrap market.

[@JSOowens]

Thanks for a great video. Very insightful and I thoroughly enjoyed the detail. When are you going to head over to Raleigh / Durham and get a similar interview with Ionna? They have been silent for MONTHS.

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

Stay tuned...

[@JSOowens]

@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney I’m sort of suspicious that the Mid-October Alpitronic site is at Ionna (in Texas?). At any rate, looking forward to what you uncover.

[@motofan16]

Thanks for the video. Funny that the ONLY public facing charger mentioned by the CEO at 9:48 is marked as “under repair “ on PlugShare. Reliability is nothing if you don’t repair them quickly.

[@brandenflasch]

All the cables were cut by vandals - not representative of reliability.

[@motofan16]

@@brandenflasch thanks for the update. EVgo abandoned quite a number of sites in the Seattle and Portland area. There is an under construction Tesla site in Seattle first got charging cables cut, then the underground wires stolen as well. Real world reliability/dependability requires more than just equipment quality was my point.

[@mcrkon]

Great news! Hopefully Alpitronic (and ChargePoint) will be the main suppliers to the new IONNA network... Also, when will they start deploying NACS?

[@tonymcflattie2450]

10/10, would plug that

[@CoordinatedCarry]

I’m so excited to plug my Chevy Bolt into one of these 400 kW chargers!!! (I’m obviously kidding.😜)

[@Gazer75]

At least it will leave 350kW available to the other plug :P I charge my e-Golf on the 300kW version of these if I have to. I do look for the lowest power available though.

[@peterwojnar5781]

I thought I saw an Alpitronic unit at the Circle K station in Rock Hill, SC. That's just a few miles south of where Tom was at the headquarters.

[@tommckinney1489]

It's great that a company that makes chargers is focusing on reliability. As an aside, 400kW charging? Can any car take that today?

[@larryspiller15]

Cybertruck, hummer, silverado ev/sierra ev all go into the high 300s

[@Aztasu]

@@larryspiller15 That is still nothing though. Multiple Chinese electric cars can charge with 500kW and more already, the Zeekr 001 takes up to 546kW from the charger, the Li Auto Mega 521kW.

[@timoliver8940]

If I heard right though, it might be a 400kW unit but it can give split charge rates so it can delivery easily to 2 x 200kW capable cars or 1 x 50kW and another 350kW car at the same time.

[@TassieEV]

These are fantastic and some units even have an 22kW AC connector along with the 2 CCS ports so three cars could charge off the single unit. They are also in Australia along with Kempower of course. Tritium is on the way out though some have even had rip & replace by some CPO's here downunder over to Kempower. Great company out of Italy and one Bjorn always raves about.

[@mrdsn189]

Thank you! I look forward to them embarrassing everybody with their amazing reliability!

[@Balance1973]

We need more Alpis here in Australia to replace the appalling Tritiums.

[@shastrisamnarine]

One question I would ask if plug and charge is available like ev go that is such a under rated feature

[@chazfisher3724]

There are only a handful of good power electronics degree programs at US Universities. U of Wisconsin is at the top of the list (along with Virginia Tech) . Hopefully Alpitronics is tapping into that at their manufacturing facility.

[@MarlinMay]

Given the Enel debacle, is Alpitronic equipment >proven< to be OCPP compliant? Has anyone >tested< to verify they can be moved from one network to another?

[@jow.6605]

There is a need for EV chargers at rest areas on the Interstate Highway system. Perhaps this company a fill that gap.

[@junehanzawa5165]

Ask Branden about the Interstate Highway monopolistic laws preventing that.

[@Gazer75]

Alpitronic is not a CPO, they sign deals to sell hardware to CPOs.

[@fatunga1]

Great news! Thanks, Tom. Question: I understand that these are highly modular, but does that translate into any kind of redundancy? In other words, if a module or stack goes out, can the charger limp along on the functioning modules at a slower rate? I still think the far better approach is to make slow charging ubiquitous so that fast charging is seldom necessary. I look forward to that future, but I get it--for now, everyone's anxious and in a hurry.

[@charliesullivan4304]

From what I understand of the way the architecture was described it will in fact have that benefit. Unless of course the failure is in the output multiplexing system.

[@jamesp5301]

So if its Mercedes I bet it will be at the MBUSA headquarters in Sandy Springs. I will keep an eye open at their charging area next time I drive by

[@MattiJouhkimo]

Awesome video! We need reliable chargers. When do we get to see Kempower on this site too? Used them in Europe and they are top notch!

[@butch3715]

Excellent content. I wonder if all EV Chargers will someday mimic gas station pumps with credit cards?

[@kemclawson314]

Great video as always. And this sounds promising. My biggest concerns are its software stack , underlying OS (please not windows!) , and networking. No matter how reliable the hardware is, these items often prove to be the achilles heel. Thanks

[@LakeLake123]

I’m hoping/guessing it’s KwikTrip. They’re opening their first charging stations in October too. Plus KwikTrip is based in Wisconsin, same as the Alpitronic Factory 🤞🤞

[@garye2906]

What about the NACS PLUG?

[@TomM-om9jr]

I saw one in the video charging a Tesla

[@4rwayner7]

So, from the dialogue it seems Brandon works for Alpitronics.

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

Yes, he's in the video @11:26

[@fergman300]

What happened to the partnership with ChargePoint and Mercedes. Did Mercedes kick ChargePoint to the curb in favor of Alpitronic? How did they address the NACS connector issue?

[@junehanzawa5165]

Mercedes knows what they're doing. They know the correct charger manufacturer to select for their network. VW, not so much. Hence, the mess of unreliable chargers that make up their EA network. Tesla, of course, is the gold standard because their manufacture and support their own chargers. Mercedes going with Alpitronic is the next best thing. Kempower would be another fantastic choice.

[@owenjohnson5030]

I said the same as soon as I heard about the event.

[@luisbraz-ruivo]

I'd rather have eight 50kw chargers than one 400Kw charger.....I think if we put 50Kw chargers in places where people spend a good amount of time (i.e. supermarkets, shopping malls, busy restaurants) people can get a good charge in 1/2 hour+ that takes to do what you have to do anyway.

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

There are places for both. You don't want a 50 kW unit on a major highway where people must charge as quickly as possible to get back on the road.

[@timnevitt2993]

all i have used is the charger in my garage but if i need ever needed to use a fast charger it would be nice to have one reliable, heck i have not gotten my adapter from ford yet

[@Lynyrd_Evnyrd]

I keep hearing about how they’re coming, but I still don’t see any around.

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

The first site goes live in October

[@ferfromla]

Hope springs eternal. If this company can deliver what it promised, Tesla chargers will finally have some real competition. A reliable charging network is sorely needed. Chargers need to be on par with gas pumps' reliability and ease of use. With increased charger availability and reliability, range fear can be mitigated, and driving an EV on long trips will become a more pleasant experience. I must say that the internals of the charger look impressive, but as Tom observed, the true test will be how they perform in the field under a wide variety of charging conditions. If they work as advertised, this will strongly boost EVs.

[@normancook4620]

Speak to me about the" Inflation Action Act" as it pertains to a installment purchase of a unit at ones own Facility. Hotdogs one apply for the use on a business site? What is the e typical site install cost including the purchase of the chargers? is there a contact for purchase at their corperation??

[@idiNty]

Does it tell what the bottleneck is at any point? To better understand if the car could take more power, then the charger is able to deliver or vice versa?

[@garyclark6747]

Welcome to the Charlotte area. I’m happy to see we have a reliable provider of equipment in the US. 24:54

[@paulmorrow8372]

Adding these to existing building will be difficult. It is doubtful that a location has 400KW of excess power capacity

[@petersilva037]

I think having the connectors actually connect in the machine lets them connect to the pins to test the connector and cable when not in use, and also detect mis-use like theft. Checking resistance and can heat the connector and cable in the cold by just having a resistive load in the charging unit fed via the cable. Allows testing of thermisters and cooling when not in use as well.

[@Infantry4Life.RealWarFighters]

The company looks promising BUT what is the cost per kw? Many third party charger pricing is outrageous.

[@dondaniels127]

Will these have both NACS & CCS cables?

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

They can. The company that orders them from Alpitronic chooses what cables that want installed on them.

[@kevinjourneau8645]

Great video. Will they have nacs connectors

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

Yes they have that option. The customer (the charging network installing them) can configure the stations with any combination of CCS1 and NACS that they want.

[@Chris21709]

Progress! Yay!

[@kevinsears4779]

How flexible are the cables in sub-zero temperatures? The Tesla 150kW cables are awful .😞

[@stevebbbbi5438]

While l love my new 2024 tesla model y, I currently charge off of 110 volt outlet and don't drive far so it works so far. The prices to fast charge hopefully come down in price. Some day when I can afford it I would love to put in a wall charge outlet.

[@Gazer75]

And what do you insurance company think of that? Is it a dedicated circuit with extra protection? Here in Norway we are no longer allowed to use the emergency unit as a regular charger at home. You need a wall box with the proper RCD protection or or a dedicated breaker with RCD protection for that box.

[@normancook4620]

Based on your knowledge and your experience as application to Chevy Bolt EUV charging what is your consideration for that specific use?

[@miltonaldridge4170]

Haha, bolt charging is slow, 50kwh charging. I tested mine. It easily works up to max a 22+ bolt can handle.

[@mts982]

will they have a map like teslas to easily find the chargers and map out a trip and show if chargers arent working?

[@CraigMatsuura]

IF someone bumped the holster connector which part breaks first? The holster or the connector?

[@GeorgeRahar]

will anyone be able to use this equipment

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

Yes

[@sephirohmoto]

is there stock market for alpitronic?

[@epcalderhead]

Now that I upgraded my 2019 Model 3 to accept CCS (I needed it to charge in Nova Scotia) and I've used a few other CCS chargers, it shocking how unwieldily the CCS cable and charging heads are when trying to maneuver them about and plug them in. Then dealing with payments and hard to read screens adds to the friction of CCS charging. The death of the CCS head with the replacement of NACS can't come too soon.

[@concinnus]

NACS plug doesn't necessarily mean Tesla-spec cable.

[@epcalderhead]

@@concinnus That's true. You're bumming me out man... At least the heads will be lighter.

[@apv9]

Do we know if they will equipped with the NACS interface?

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

Yes. The customer decides what cable they have on the units. Alpitronics makes them, they don't manage the network. The CPO will order them in the configuration they want.

[@davidbaker9943]

Based off all of Kyle’s video of roadtrips in Europe definitely seems like a very solid choice! Didn’t know that Brandon worked for them. I also was checking to see if they have any openings lol it’s a cool company. Are they going to have j1772 connector? Assume so

[@junjloc3774]

will they support the ccs to chademo adapter?

[@mikeforman8246]

You didn't mention anything about the output voltage or output current. The website shows the options for current, up to 600 amps. What's the output voltage options?

[@brandenflasch]

@@mikeforman8246 150-1000V

[@Dqtube]

Just visit their website where you will find all the information. For *HYC400* , the specifications are as follows: - Output DC voltage range: 150 Vdc - 1000 Vdc - Maximum output current: 500 A continuous (600 A boost) - DC output (4x Power-Stacks) : 400 kW, max. 1200 A (600 A max. per cable)

[@emschaub]

Where are they made in Wisconsin? Just curious.

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

Yes

[@kevinsears4779]

Where In Wisconsin are these units manufactured?

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

Appleton, Wisconsin

[@yaozcroitoru5327]

0:42 only I noticed this pun?

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

Stay tuned...

[@BTC909]

"chatting with the tech" drags on the repair time.

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

No, it didn't. He was sitting in his car just waiting for an update to complete

[@BTC909]

@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney I'm sure the tech has stories being knee deep in front of a charger trying to diagnostic / fix it while someone wants to complain, when is it going to be fixed, etc. I also follow Alpitronic business model, remote diagnosis, remote maintenance, and part or system replacement in hand if I need to pay a visit.

[@rcuadro]

Are these going to be CCS, NACS, or a combination of them?

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

Whatever the customer wants, they have both. My guess is that most stations will have both NACS and a CCS1 connectors and every site will have one CHAdeMO plug.

[@ws6002]

Any thoughts about the lack of now industry standard NACS connector?

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

No EVs use it yet. They will add the connectors once the cars have the NACS inlets. Easy retrofit.

[@ws6002]

@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney Thank you for the information. Good video!

[@jamesreno3785]

What about NACS connection?

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

The customer gets to decide which connectors they want Alpitronic to attach to the chargers. I believe most will probably have 1 CCS1 connector and 1 NACS

[@jamesreno3785]

@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney Thanks for the quick reply, Really informative video BTW.👍

[@AnonymousFreakYT]

Branden looks so uncomfortable being on camera for his actual day job, instead of "just having fun". :-D

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

Maybe he was just star-struck about finally meeting the great Tom Moloughney🤣

[@brandenflasch]

@@AnonymousFreakYT 😅 I'm not used to not doing my own thing

[@AnonymousFreakYT]

@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney That was certainly it!

[@brandond.7768]

Lots of smart people here, so maybe someone could answer this...lvl 2 chargers are slow, but could you have a battery that plugs into a level 2 outlet, and continuously charges, but when you plug your ev the battery gives the output of a lvl 3. Like my at home battery is charging 8 hours while at work, I come home and plug my ev in for 30 min and get that as fc?

[@charliesullivan4304]

That's technically possible, but battery prices are so high that you'd probably be better off buying it in the form of a second car that you could leave charging at home. Then just swap cars when you get home.

[@concinnus]

Aside from the battery cost, the L3/DCFC unit is also extremely expensive, and will never be worth it if it's only used once a day at most.

[@douglaspierce7940]

As always, Tom, great work reporting on this new (to North America) technology. One thing that strikes me as interesting: The physical size of these units is huge, even larger than EA chargers. You talked to the Apitronic reps about reliability, mentioning the Tesla Supercharger Network as the Gold Standard. Why is it that Tesla Superchargers are relatively small and compact compared to these, yet they seem to accomplish their job quite well?

[@concinnus]

@@douglaspierce7940 What you're calling the Tesla charger is just the 'post'. The AC-DC conversion is done in a separate cabinet nearby. This is how basically all chargers have worked. But these Alpitronic units are all-in-one.

[@douglaspierce7940]

@@concinnus - Interesting. I had wondered about that. As a Tesla owner, I can attest to the reliability of the SuperCharger network. The only thing that I have found thus far that can rival the performance, reliability and user experience is the Rivian Adventure Network. - The downside is that the RAN is still in its infancy compared to the Tesla network.

[@chriauc2976]

Are these been running in NOrWay ? If not. No thanks go ask the big fish in Norway that is the benchmark

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

Norway is absolutely a leader in EV adoption, but the US has nearly ten times more public DC fast chargers. Norway isn't the big fish when it comes to DC fast chargers, not by a long shot. China is actually the leader.

[@brandenflasch]

They're all over in norway including in the arctic circle

[@patrick7228]

Honestly what is Tesla's secret? Everyone says vertical integration. They make the cars and the network blah blah blah. But then why is everyone's magic dock experience with non-Tesla's also seamless and reliable?

[@Rhaman68]

The “secret” is %#%^^*! Get it? In reality there is no secret. A well engineered system with quality components is reliable and with excellent tech support is the secret. Tesla is unique in that the chargers are part of the system that sells cars. Notice that Tesla SC have no screens, the hose and plug are like no others as to size, weight and the software is superb. As to other brands charging at Tesla’s SC, only the V3 stations and the ones with built in CCS adaptors work but at less speeds than high power units at EVgo and Electrify America. My Ioniq 5 will not charge at 230 kw in a Tesla SC, perhaps at 97 kw due to its 800 V architecture(whatever that means). I can imagine how long it will take to charge a 150 kw GM Hummer EV at a Tesla SC.

[@kng128]

⁠you're ioniq 5 is charged limited because of the inboard dc-dc voltage booster. For current to pass through the battery the charger voltage must be higher than the pack voltage. Tesla SC stations are limited to 500V.

[@davidmccarthy6061]

I completely disagree. What the average person needs is level 2 plugs where we live, work, and run errands. Much better bang for the buck and the absolutely only thing that will let 60%+ potential buyers transition to an EV. Nobody is going to stop buying gasoline until they see a working plug almost everywhere they park.

[@wasabi521]

We need site level load management or else we will be stuck in line waiting for 1 of 2 cabinets to become available. as cool as these are they probably are 5x the cost of superchargers to deploy and require more grid power.

[@im4udevco]

Can they take over EA? EA need to reimburse US tax payers for implementing poor and unreliable DC fast charging stations that just don't work well with poor utilization rates. It's good to see companies like these coming to the US because it's needed to grow to DC fast charging network.

[@badtoro]

What the point? If they are not rolled out in a large scale and key thing here, SUPPORTED

[@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

They will be...

[@arnecarlsson9740]

Did you ask about their predicted reliability? How do they monitor outages and how fast the can they repair? Will this be another app? I am skeptic about another player!