Kempower is developing a megawatt-charging system
For the MCS product, Kempower uses two existing 600 kW power supply units for a total output of 1.2 megawatts and one of the well-known satellite chargers – i.e. the compact charging pole that is set up at the pitch. Most of the technology sits in the power supply units, which can be placed a few metres away to keep the space requirement at the parking space itself small.
Typically, two 600 kW units can supply several HPC satellites for electric cars. In the case of the MCS unit, however, the 2×600 kW are bundled and used for one satellite. This has a liquid-cooled MCS charging plug and can thus deliver a total power of 1.2 megawatts to the vehicle to be charged.
While the technical development is not unfeasible, it is surprising, however, that Kempower wants to start delivering its new megawatt charging system in Europe as early as the first quarter of 2024. The underlying megawatt charging standard has not yet been finally developed. Around the premiere of the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600, Daimler Truck was still talking about this probably happening by mid-2025. It is unclear exactly how Kempower intends to deliver the first MCS products in Q1 2024.
When asked by electrive, the company explains how it plans to deliver its products as early as Q1 2024 given this starting point: “CharIN has done great work in developing the MCS standardization and we see that it is highly valuable to have common industry standards for MCS,” says Jussi Vanhanen, Kempower’s Chief Market Officer. “The main elements of the standardization by CharIN are already in place. Truck manufacturers are doing their own development and need charging technology to help them move forward. The Kempower MCS solution will naturally be compliant with CharIN specifications and if there are changes to standardization, we will adapt.”
Earlier in the announcement, Vanhanen had stated: “Electric trucks are typically charged with a DC fast charger either overnight, at a warehouse destination, or on the move along highways. Larger EVs need larger power sources. Our megawatt charging solution serves all those use cases: overnight, destination and on-the-move charging.”
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