5 ms·

>Just taking an existing fast charger with 150- or 350-kW capacity and swapping in the latest and greatest 1,500-kW chargers wouldn’t get anyone faster speeds.

>Just taking an existing fast charger with 150- or 350-kW capacity and swapping in the latest and greatest 1,500-kW chargers wouldn’t get anyone faster speeds. The system would need all new “pipes”—grid capacity—to actually move that much current. The grid doesn't necessarily mean "pipes" or power lines. You don't build a pipeline to every gas station. Mobile charging robots work pretty well in China.

tim333 7mo ago
Also I guess they could put a large battery at the charging station so it can take say a steady 200kw from the grid and be able to kick out 1500kw for ten minutes occasionally. That could also charge from cheap off peak electricity.
- boringg 7mo ago
  Traffic congestion costs for electricity is going to get wild if we start stacking all sorts of random >= 1.5 MW demands scattered everywhere.
  - stavros 7mo ago
    Imagine if we had a parallel information network that could coordinate the charging times of all these things in real-time.
    - 486sx33 7mo ago
      [dead]
    - boringg 7mo ago
      Fair bit of overhead to pull that off, but interesting.
      - stavros 7mo ago
        Not really, all you'd need to do is make a live price ticket that's dependent on congestion and make that available over the network, and economics takes care of the rest.
- erk__ 7mo ago
  This is what they already are doing, the article is behind a paywall so no clue if they say it there but you can for example see this article about it: https://www.etechvolution.com/p/byd-megawatt-flash-charging-explained https://www.etechvolution.com/p/byd-megawatt-flash-charging-...
- Onavo 7mo ago
  Supercaps are viable for this sort of short term charge and discharge. The much maligned donut labs is suspected to be a license built Nordic hybrid supercap battery model
- est 7mo ago
  > guess they could put a large battery at the charging station BYD's megawatt charging does exactly that. Tbe best part, the "large battery" uses the same battary on BYD cars. The same electric components, cooling system, etc.
  - NoPicklez 7mo ago
    Exactly what Tesla's megapack superchargers do
- pornel 7mo ago
  This is what everyone is already doing, even for relatively small and slow dispensers. It's simply cheaper to have on-site batteries. It makes installation work with a smaller connection to the grid, and makes it possible to install chargers in more places without upgrading the grid connection. Energy arbitrage is profitable on its own, so EV charging stations are almost just an excuse to get some land and a grid connection for more batteries.
- NoPicklez 7mo ago
  Exactly what Tesla's megapack superchargers do

tim333 7mo ago

Also I guess they could put a large battery at the charging station so it can take say a steady 200kw from the grid and be able to kick out 1500kw for ten minutes occasionally. That could also charge from cheap off peak electricity.

boringg 7mo ago
Traffic congestion costs for electricity is going to get wild if we start stacking all sorts of random >= 1.5 MW demands scattered everywhere.
- stavros 7mo ago
  Imagine if we had a parallel information network that could coordinate the charging times of all these things in real-time.
  - 486sx33 7mo ago
    [dead]
  - boringg 7mo ago
    Fair bit of overhead to pull that off, but interesting.
    - stavros 7mo ago
      Not really, all you'd need to do is make a live price ticket that's dependent on congestion and make that available over the network, and economics takes care of the rest.
erk__ 7mo ago
This is what they already are doing, the article is behind a paywall so no clue if they say it there but you can for example see this article about it: https://www.etechvolution.com/p/byd-megawatt-flash-charging-explained https://www.etechvolution.com/p/byd-megawatt-flash-charging-...
Onavo 7mo ago
Supercaps are viable for this sort of short term charge and discharge. The much maligned donut labs is suspected to be a license built Nordic hybrid supercap battery model
est 7mo ago
> guess they could put a large battery at the charging station BYD's megawatt charging does exactly that. Tbe best part, the "large battery" uses the same battary on BYD cars. The same electric components, cooling system, etc.
- NoPicklez 7mo ago
  Exactly what Tesla's megapack superchargers do
pornel 7mo ago
This is what everyone is already doing, even for relatively small and slow dispensers. It's simply cheaper to have on-site batteries. It makes installation work with a smaller connection to the grid, and makes it possible to install chargers in more places without upgrading the grid connection. Energy arbitrage is profitable on its own, so EV charging stations are almost just an excuse to get some land and a grid connection for more batteries.
NoPicklez 7mo ago
Exactly what Tesla's megapack superchargers do