Audi is developing its own charging stations. In addition, the brand follows a slightly more extensive approach than Tesla, because Audi immediately adds a lounge area.
Audi also wants to participate in the expansion of the charging infrastructure, as the brand previously announced. The manufacturer from Ingolstadt wants to have as many as 20 fully electric models on the market by 2025, so it is useful that those customers have their own place to charge their car. The Audi charging hub must offer a solution for this. The charging station has the shape of a cube, surrounded by six charging stations. In the cube there is a lounge area with food and drink where the occupants can sit while the car gets its power. The Audi driver can reserve a charging spot in advance so that he is sure of power.
With the Audi charging hub, the battery can be chased with a maximum charging speed of 300 kW. That’s great, because the E-tron GT has a fast charging power of 270 kW. Audi emphasizes that the charging hub does not require an extensive supply of electricity. The batteries from the electric prototypes from Audi are reused as energy storage. Thanks to the maximum storage capacity of 2.45 mWh, there is always enough power available and a connection of 400 volts is sufficient to charge the cars. That means that the location of the charging hub is more flexible.
Audi wants to start a pilot project in the second half of this year. To this end, the brand is now in talks with several partners. As part of the test phase, cars from other brands are also welcome to come and charge when the charging stations are not reserved. It is still unclear whether this will also be the case at a later stage.
Incidentally, it is not the case that Audi is not active at all in the fast charging area, because the German brand is, like many competitors, affiliated with the Ionity network.