New chargers by Qwello are coming to the UK

Initially, the company will install around seventy charging stations in thirty locations, including Chelmsford, Colchester, Maldon, Braintree, Harlow, and Epping. The installation will commence in early 2024, with the first sites anticipated to go live in the spring.

Qwello UK has also announced the completion of 49 charging points at five City of London Corporation locations, specifically car parks on the so-called Square Mile. Qwello proudly claims the installation took just eight weeks.

Unlike street post chargers, Qwello stations could double as lamposts. At 2.3 metres in height, each charger has its lighting at the top. The white light is intended to illuminate the charging station, while a colour LED communicates the status of the charging station via a simple traffic light indicator. Below the display and the RFID card reader, the charging station has a conventional AC charging socket.

However, only very few customers will likely use this, as the real highlight can be found underneath – an integrated 11 kW charging cable (7 metres), which rolls up inside the column. It ends in a 3-phase Type 2 plug and was designed with convenience in mind. Only those who want to charge with 22 kW – for example, with a Renault Zoe or Twingo Electric – have to take their charging cable out of the boot and use the charging socket – the 22 kW cable designed for 32 amps is significantly thicker and cannot be rolled up as quickly as the thinner 11 kW cable with 16 amps. For the majority of current electric cars, the 11 kW is sufficient. However, single-phase BEVs are also partly dependent on the 32 amps if they are to charge at their maximum AC charging capacity – vehicles such as a Nissan Leaf, Hyundai Kona electric (before 2020) or the Hyundai Ioniq electric also benefit from the 22 kW cable. They would be limited in their charging capacity to 16 amps.

Qwello introduced the first product in Germany in 2020 and is active in Spain.

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