Compleo presents its new HPC column – the eTower 200

The number in the model name stands for the charging capacity – of the charging station, not per charging point. With the eTower 200, the 200 kW is split between the two charging points. Compleo will launch a 200 kW HPC next year, and further power levels will follow.

“When people talk about HPC, they often talk about the 300 to 400 kW range. However, there are a lot of use cases where 400 kW is too much and too expensive for the overall project,” Compleo CEO Jörg Lohr told journalists. “With the 200 kW power class, we have a use case that many CPOs see as another area of business alongside the 400 kW sector on motorways.”

Lohr initially announced the market launch for spring 2023. Compleo’s insolvency in December and the takeover by the Kostal Group this year delayed the project – but made it better from Lohr’s perspective. Although Compleo will assemble the eTower 200 itself, it will procure the power modules via the electronics expert Kostal, who will also produce them in the future.

The power modules are the centrepiece of the eTower. Seven modules with an output of 29 kW each are installed in the 200 version – thanks to SiC semiconductors, the efficiency should be over 96 per cent in a wide range. That means charging power can be distributed modularly in 29 kW steps between the two charging points. The 200 kW can thus be utilised much better than with larger power modules, where only a coarser distribution is possible.

Compleo calculates that with the more precise distribution of charging power according to the actual demand of the connected vehicles, the CPO should be able to sell up to 35 MWh more electricity per year. However, Compleo did not present the details of the simulation.

At just two metres, the eTower is smaller than other columns. It is not lifted onto the foundation with a crane via a bracket on the top. Instead, it can be moved into place with a forklift truck and can thus also be installed in underground or multi-storey car parks.

For cooling, which is vital for HPC, Compleo does not rely on a horizontal air flow through the housing but on the chimney effect: the warm air rises and is supposed to escape upwards by itself, while cool air is drawn in at the bottom. As a result, the operating noise is said to be below 55 dB – which also makes installation in residential areas possible, according to Compleo.

Order books are open

Compleo has been accepting binding orders since Wednesday evening – the eTower was presented to 200 potential customers at an event in the development centre. The last prototypes are being transferred to the pilot series, with production scheduled to start and ramp up in January. Lohr expects larger quantities from the second quarter.

“Although HPCs have lower unit numbers, they are a sales driver. In addition, the HPC market is characterised by significantly fewer competitors than wallboxes, for example,” says the Compleo boss. “We are expanding the portfolio vertically to make ourselves less dependent on individual product groups.”

Initially, Compleo will focus on Europe with the HPC, but sales in North America could also follow later. After going through insolvency in self-administration, the goals are once again ambitious: Lohr wants to achieve a “significant market share” in Compleo’s core markets in the DACH region, the UK and Scandinavia by 2030, and a “recognisable market share” in the rest of the EU and the NAFTA region – and over one billion euros in net sales.

Source: Livestream of the presentation, information by e-mail

Translation by Carla Westerheide