LG Electronics will offer AC and DC chargers in the USA
LG’s initial product line for the US market will include Level 2 AC Chargers with load management and variable current settings for 11kW output through a standard SAE J1772 connector. Clients can choose between wall mounting, and an optional stand that LG says enables placement anywhere.
The company also announced its first Level 3 DC Charger for 2024. This stand-type model has a connected Power Bank to boost fast charging up to 175kW through CCS and NACS connectors. The Level 3 model will feature a large outdoor LCD touch-screen that LG says can serve multiple functions for various owners and use cases such as advertisements.
What the company has in mind are clearly commercial users. “LG is committed to delivering systems and solutions to help US commercial customers develop the infrastructure to charge electric vehicles,” says the company’s US Business Solutions Senior VP Nicolas Min. “Our product roadmap supports various use cases to provide a flexible, adaptable family of EV chargers to keep America moving as electric vehicles continue to grow in popularity and capabilities.”
In the statement, the company adds it would help “individual businesses take part in the market without relying on third-party owner-operators” and lists hotels, restaurants, venues, transit hubs, municipal buildings and other locations as potential sites for its new charger line.
What remains unsaid is where LG Electronics will manufacture the chargers – to be fully eligible for federal infrastructure funding, equipment must be made in America in large parts.
It is also unclear how far the new product line relies on LG’s previous chargers, which the company launched in South Korea earlier this year. At the time, the development was based mainly on technology by AppleMango, a manufacturer of EV chargers. LG took over the company, which now operates as HiEV Charger. Their current line includes two 7 kW AC chargers, which are slower than the US product, but also mounted and standing options—the two DC stations in the Korean line output 100 and 200 kW of power.
The press picture LG Electronics delivered today shows a rendering of a future wall-mounted charger for the US market.
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