New rapid charging park on German A7 Autobahn

A large high power charging park was opened on the A7 Autobahn in Germany on Friday. Twenty electric cars can be charged simultaneously at a mix of columns from Ionity and Tesla.

The new charging park at the 24-Total Autohof Lutterberg rest stop, on the A7 between Kassel and Göttingen, consists of 16 next-gen Superchargers from Tesla and four HPC columns from Ionity. Also, the construction was done in a way that will allow two more Ionity columns to be installed if required. The charging park is a cooperation between Tesla, Ionity and the Regensburg-based 24-Autohof chain.

During the virtual opening ceremony, a Tesla spokesman emphasised the “strategically optimal location” of the rapid charging park. “Thanks to its central location, Lutterberg supports both the important north-south traffic axis, such as the Frankfurt-Hamburg route, as well as long-distance travel from West to East Germany,” said the Tesla representative. The second-generation Supercharger stalls allow charging capacities of up to 150 kW; the columns are each equipped with a CCS and a type 2 DC plug.

Ionity is initially using four 350 kW tritium charging columns at the site, which, like all Ionity columns, only feature a CCS connection. “The 350-kW technology allows for a drastic reduction of charging times to as little as four minutes per 100 kilometres when the battery has the appropriate charging capacity,” says Christoph Strecker, rollout manager for the DACH region at Ionity.

Alexander Ruscheinsky, the managing director and owner of the 24-Autohof chain, emphasised at the opening that he considers rest stops the best location for such expensive fast-charging parks. “These are located at motorway exits and can, therefore, be accessed from both sides of the motorway and also from the surrounding area, so they are three times more efficient than service stations located on one side of the motorway,” said Ruscheinsky. This also guarantees higher capacity utilisation in his opinion.

The French oil company Total, which operates the service station when it comes to gas, does not participate in the fast-charging effort. Total Germany is also planning to set up around 200 quick-charging points at almost 70 locations. The first stations are to be built at the auto yards in Barsinghausen, Weißenfels, Osterfeld and Alsfeld as well as in Kirchheim Teck.

With reporting by Sebastian Schaal, Germany.

24-autohof.de (in German)