Lotus unveils 500kW electric car charger

[jonwat]

Autocar

[Bibs]

That's meant to be under embargo until tomorrow. Well they've dated it for then anyway!! 

 

Shock @lotuscars unveiling! But it's not a car - it's a robotic charging device which can top up any electric car at up to 500kW... pic.twitter.com/V82qgmG7MJ

— Autocar (@autocar) April 18, 2023

 

[exeterjeep]

sure I've seen that story a few months ago?

[stevensr34]

This depends on the said ev being able to take this level of charging... charge is "pulled", not "pushed".

And 635A @ 800V is quite a bit of current to put through cables! (Maybe that's why it is robotic - keep the humans away if it is raining?)

Edited November 28, 2023 by stevensr34

[Escape]

As above, I don't think increasing charging currents to ludicrous levels is the answer. Chargers like that will have a serious impact on the power supply available, so are bound to be limited to very few locations and probably even then only in limited numbers. Unless you have some huge batteries/ capacitors or big diesel generators to handle the peak power demands.

[Bibs]

https://www.thelotusforums.com/latest-news/lotus-cars-news/lotus-launches-ev-charging-solution-at-450-kw/

[C8RKH]

Firstly. My understanding is that regular use of "hyper chargers" to charge your car battery can have a serious impact on its health, performance and longevity. These massive chargers are great at generating good publicity but potentially damaging for long term users are they not?

 

Lotus following the Tesla model, which we have to agree was a smart move by Musk, at the time is interesting. But, Musk and Tesla were the pioneers opening up a new frontier. I'm not sure that long term, manufacturers investing in dedicated networks, is the way to go or the smart move. Not the least when parts start going on back order.

 

The current EV charging market is fragmented enough, with standards (service, availability, reliability) widely varying across the estates installed. There will be significant consolidation across these estates in 4-8 years time and we'll end up with "familiar" brands running the majority, just like with petrol stations where you see brands like BP and Shell dominating, then supermarkets, then the smaller majors like Esso, Chevron etc and then the independents.

Interestingly, this announcement comes at a time when the OBR (office for budget responsibility) has reduced it's 2023 forecast for EV sales down, from 25% to 18% - that's a quarter down. In addition, it has reduced it's 2027 forecast from 67% to 38% which is a shocker!

The data is telling us that people, en masse, are not going for EV's in the numbers that the Government or Manufacturers wanted to see. The three biggest reasons are Cost to change, Range anxiety, and access to charging points. 

Lotus has decided to target the upper premium end of the market, but this is a tight demographic, and a small percentage of the car buying market. At a time when Tesla and others are reducing prices, and even the mighty Porsche cannot shift the Taycans it is producing, has someone in Lotus noticed the trends?

If a £120k Taycan is worth £40k after two years, what is a £120k electric Lotus going to be worth after two years? Surely not much more. Possibly, less. Only time will reveal the answer.

 

EV's are a necessary part of our transport future, but consumers have voted with their wallets, and declared that whilst they would have an EV, they won't have one at "any cost".

Ford. Mercedes. BMW. Tesla. etc. All are offering huge discounts and very cheap finance with generous deposit contributions for their EV's. Why?

 

[Bibs]

43 minutes ago, C8RKH said:

My understanding is that regular use of "hyper chargers" to charge your car battery can have a serious impact on its health, performance and longevity. These massive chargers are great at generating good publicity but potentially damaging for long term users are they not?

I think this was more the case with earlier EV's however now they mainly have actively cooled batteries so the issue, which was caused by the huge amounts of heat generated from the large current is now much better.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

8 hours ago, exeterjeep said:

sure I've seen that story a few months ago?

Correct. Look at the above linked Autocar tweet dated 18 April 2023. That was over 7 months ago, so hardly a scoop reveal now then! Perhaps Lotus forgot they’d already announced it!