ABB developing DC backbone for high-power EV chargers

Getting to a “gas station experience” will require new power infrastructure to support chargers operating at higher power levels.

ABB announced today that the company is engaged in a collaborative R&D project with North Carolina State University to develop the underlying power systems required to support rapid charging of electric vehicles (EVs).

“Having delivered the highest power (350 kW) public fast charger in the world earlier this year, ABB is now exploring the next frontier of high power fast charging,” explains Frank Muehlon, Managing Director for electric vehicle charging infrastructure at ABB. “To reach the point where charging time is comparable to today’s fueling process, we need to explore new power distribution concepts that are flexible and scalable but also simple and efficient.”

In the three-year project, which started in Oct 2018, ABB will work closely with NCSU on developing and demonstrating novel ideas such as high power density rectifiers, battery storage, and DC/DC converters for fast EV charging.

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ABB and NCSU have a 20+ year research collaboration history in the energy sector. ABB supported the establishment and later growth of power electronics and electrical systems research at NC State and is a member of the NCSU Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) center that was created in 2008. The two entities have worked together extensively on topics like medium- and low-voltage DC power, solar energy, EV chargers, drives and more. The US arm of ABB’s Global Corporate Research Center is located at NC State‘s Centennial Campus and several NCSU alumni are presently employed with ABB.

According to Srdjan Lukic, NCSU professor and project lead, “We are very happy with ABB’s long standing commitment and support for NCSU research in the energy sector. We see this VTO-funded high power electrical vehicle fast charging infrastructure project as a key milestone in this collaboration.”

ABB also has a long-standing relationship with US Department of Energy (DoE) on advanced power electronics, including use of wide band gap devices like Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) in a host of ABB applications as well as solid-state based DC protection technologies. ABB is also a founding member of $70 million DoE-funded Power America Institute that advances commercialization of wide band gap power electronics in the United States manufacturing industry. Its headquarters is hosted at the NCSU campus in Raleigh, North Carolina.

ABB (NYSE: ABB) is a pioneering technology leader in power grids, electrification products, industrial automation and robotics and motion, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally. Continuing a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalization with two clear value propositions: bringing electricity from any power plant to any plug and automating industries from natural resources to finished products. As title partner in ABB Formula E, the fully electric international FIA motorsport class, ABB is pushing the boundaries of e-mobility to contribute to a sustainable future. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 147,000 employees. www.abb.com