Volkswagen Flexible Charging Stations Entering Production in 2020

Greg Hyde

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29th January 2019

Volkswagen has announced its “flexible” rapid electric vehicle chargers will enter series production from next year.

The automaker has said development of the chargers will be carried out at its component-making plant in Hanover, Germany under the aegis of its new Volkswagen Group Components unit. It also said the plant’s current production of heat exchangers would be phased out and replaced with production of the chargers from 2020 onward. Volkswagen claimed this would make the plant more financially “sustainable” and its existing employees’ jobs more secure.

The stations are designed to function like power banks and charge multiple EVs simultaneously. A Volkswagen statement claimed they would provide EV batteries with “a second life” because they can incorporate depleted batteries. It did not say whether they had any technology in place to combat the corrosive effects too much rapid charging can have on EV batteries, however. It added the stations are based on the Volkswagen Modular Electric Toolkit (MEB)’s battery package and are “designed to use its cell modules”.

Volkswagen said it plans to pilot the chargers in its home city of Wolfsburg, northern Germany in summer 2019. Volkswagen Group Components CEO Thomas Schmall claimed: “The development of charging infrastructure will be a key factor in the success of e-mobility. The flexible fast charging station developed by Group Components can make a key contribution in this area. This is confirmed by the considerable interest shown by potential partners.”