Is it worthwhile to go for a 350 kW DC quick charger when the Chevy Equinox EV has a most charging capability of solely 150 kW? Tom Moloughney examined three totally different quick chargers to evaluate their effectiveness. Apparently, the 250 kW charger resulted within the briefest charging session, as an alternative of the 350 kW possibility.
The Chevrolet Equinox EV is a horny possibility for its worth level, however it does include a major limitation. Whereas its battery is usually categorized as a 400-volt pack, it really operates below 300 V when the cost is low and by no means exceeds 400 V, even when absolutely charged. This design alternative enhances the longevity of the battery cells however results in longer-than-expected charging instances for a contemporary electrical car.
Theoretically, the Equinox EV can cost at a most velocity of 150 kilowatts, however this requires connection to a DC quick charger able to supplying no less than 500 amps. As demonstrated by Tom Moloughney in his video, simply because a charging station is rated for 150 kW doesn’t assure that the Equinox EV will obtain that quantity of energy.
The testing concerned charging the Equinox EV from 10% to 80% utilizing three totally different DC quick chargers: a 150 kW Electrify America stall, a 250 kW Tesla Supercharger, and a 350 kW EVgo ultra-fast charger. Surprisingly, essentially the most highly effective charger didn’t yield the quickest charging session.
Beginning with the 150 kW Electrify America station, which might ship as much as 350 amps, the charger would wish to extend the voltage to 430 V to supply the total 150 kW. Nonetheless, the Equinox EV’s battery pack doesn’t attain 400 V and requires 500 amps for max velocity. Consequently, the Electrify America charger was unable to ship greater than 96 kW, resulting in a sluggish charging time of 44 minutes to succeed in 80%.
The 250 kW Tesla Supercharger turned out to be essentially the most environment friendly possibility, regardless of being positioned within the center by way of energy. The Equinox EV was capable of keep a cost fee of over 100 kW for an extended interval in comparison with the 350 kW EVgo charger, finally finishing the ten% to 80% charging in simply 40 minutes. In distinction, the EVgo charger started to throttle the facility after about 14 minutes and dropped under 100 kW after roughly 16 minutes, resulting in a complete charging time that was just one minute longer than the Tesla Supercharger.
For the Equinox EV, using DC quick chargers that may ship over 200 kW is advisable as a result of greater amperage required to capitalize on the car’s charging capabilities. Nonetheless, the variations in charging instances among the many 150 kW, 250 kW, and 350 kW DC quick chargers are minimal, with solely a five-minute variation between the slowest and quickest choices.
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