What’s the point of 350kw DC fast chargers?

[EV Lab]

I found the 500A rating written on a placard in the corner of a 350kW EA charger. Also, Mach E pulling 156kW from 350kW EA charger is proof that the charger can go over 350A.

Hmm, well, I've never seen higher than ~126kW any time I've used an EA charger, but I've only used when I arrived at ~30%SoC. Maybe for a short burst of time when charging started at 75%+ SoC it could be possible to reach 150kW, but it would quickly drop to 10kW at 80%.

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[ChasingCoral]

The CCS standard actually describes the highest current as 350A, with a max pack voltage of 1000V, hence the 350kW limit. Anything beyond 350A will require cooling of the charge cable all the way to the off-board charger. 350A x 800V is 280kW, so that explains why 270kW-ish is the highest possible in today's best EVs. You're also not going to be putting max current into the pack when it's near the top of charge, so really 250kW or so is the highest realistic number that can be achieved.

1000V is not really realistic at the moment for other system level reasons... 800V-ish is the current state of the art.

BTW, I already had an overheated cable charging my Mach E on a 150kW!

 

[ChasingCoral]

Hmm, well, I've never seen higher than ~126kW any time I've used an EA charger, but I've only used when I arrived at ~30%SoC. Maybe for a short burst of time when charging started at 75%+ SoC it could be possible to reach 150kW, but it would quickly drop to 10kW at 80%.

I've definitely peaked 150-160kW on multiple occasions. See https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/my-travels-with-marlin-gb-fe-delivered.3298/post-126280

Interesting that my 80% charge rate is usually about 15kW.

 

[generaltso]

1985