The American start-up Gravity unveils a brand new fast charging solution dedicated to electric cars. This takes the form of ultra-discreet terminals intended for urban use and delivering up to 500 kW.
As sales of electric cars continue to grow, so does the demand for charging stations. In France, things are moving in the right direction, with more than 100,000 already installed.
Innovative urban terminals
But in the rest of the world too, while some countries are even much more advanced than us on the subject, as proven by a recently published graph. And this is thanks to the arrival of new operators, such as Fastned, IECharge or even Electra, to name a few. Not to mention manufacturers who also design their own solution like Nio or Lotus. But another company has also recently made headlines. This is Gravitya young American start-up based in New York.
The latter presented its new terminals last year delivering a power of up to 500 kW. But the firm doesn’t stop there. As the site indicates Electrek, it has just unveiled a new technology, designed to facilitate the charging of electric cars in cities. Because for the moment, most charging stations delivering high power are installed on the outskirts, and especially on highways.
And the least we can say is that these new terminals take an original shape, described as “trees” by the American media. And for good reason, these are not simple totems like the Tesla Superchargers for example, but large, thinner poles. This is of course to facilitate their integration into the landscape, without causing visual pollution. Which reminds us, for example, of the solution also developed by the German company Rheinmetall, which installs bollards in sidewalks.
But how does this system work? Actually, it’s quite simple. On his website, the American company explains that it is in fact developing small, very discreet chargers, taking the form of a large square box. The latter can in fact be installed almost anywhere, whether directly on the ground or on a pole, but also on the ceiling of a parking lot for example. In short, the possibilities are actually almost endless. Just add a long enough cable and you’re done.
Ultra-fast and convenient charging
Thus, all electric cars can plug into these new generation terminals, provided that they are compatible with the type of socket, of course. This technology can deliver 200 or 500 kW depending on the version, which allows, according to Gravity, to gain approximately 321 kilometers of autonomy in respectively 13 or 5 minutes.
However, you still need to have a model that can handle so much power, while these are still rare. We can cite the Zeekr 001 (which is arriving in France) and the Li Auto Mega, which exceed 500 kW for a recharge of 10 to 80% in 11 minutes.
According to the company, these terminals do not require major work and can therefore be installed very easily and quickly, which should have an effect on the total cost. The latter should logically be reflected in the recharge price paid by users, which could remain fairly contained. You should also know that the charger developed by Gravity can deliver up to 1,000 volts and is compatible with bidirectional charging. This allows electricity to be sent back into the network, in order to reduce tensions on the network.
Provided that the cars are also equipped with this technology, as is the case for the new Volvo EX90, among others. In any case, these new terminals may well overshadow Tesla, whose Superchargers do not exceed 250 kW For now. It now remains to be seen whether they will one day arrive in Europe, while the company Ubitricity offers to charge its vehicle in street lamps in our German neighbors.
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