Tesla Motors were the first to introduce a truly high-capacity Supercharger. However, like mushrooms after the rain, more startup companies do the same – and that’s good.
Today’s best example is a company named Tritium, based in Australia, that designed a supercharger called “Veefil” and which is intended for other plug-in vehicles than the Tesla.
The project, funded by a government grant, produced a 50 kWh charger that supports both CHAdeMO and the SAE J1772 Combo connector standards, at a voltage of 400 to 415V AC and a maximum current of 85 amps.
Veefil will be able to charge an electric vehicle 20 times faster than using a standard wall socket, the company claims. It’s possible to select either a quick charge of 10 minutes or a full charge of 30.
I don’t know which vehicle they’re thinking of when they publish these figures, but it’s not hard to guess: the Nissan Leaf, which got a huge price cut in Australia these days.
We are glad such things happen. One the other hand, though, I really don’t know how using one such charger will affect warranty. Tesla’s Supercharger is made specially for the system the car has onboard, and they “have to dance a tight tango” (quoting Elon Musk in last week’s interview) to keep things flowing nicely and the battery charging at its optimum parameters.
And remember, Tesla has a 90 kWh charging station – a real piece of engineering art.
