Endesa’s new Bidirectional Charging Points Halve Charging/Discharging Time

Endesa SA has unveiled the new version of its bidirectional charging points for electric vehicles which offer charging power of 10kW, twice the current level. This means a vehicle can be fully charged in an hour and a half. V2G infrastructure (vehicle to grid) allows the charge to flow in two directions i.e. from grid to vehicle and vehicle to grid. This new model will allow the user greater freedom to choose when to discharge their vehicle into the grid as they will be able to recharge it more quickly afterwards. V2G technology is also an important step in the development of smartgrids which need tools to help optimise output and distribution and improve the supply and demand balance between electricity producers and consumers.

The new charging point features V2H (vehicle to home) technology, allowing users to decide whether to consume the electricity stored in their electric vehicle, power their home or even sell back the surplus to the grid. The new infrastructure was unveiled at the CHAdeMO association's stand at the recent EVS 27 trade fair in Barcelona. The CHAdeMO association was set by major players in the Japanese market to develop a fast charge standard for electric vehicles. The association’s mission is to expand the installation of fast charge points worldwide and set the global charge standard. According to Endesa, CHAdeMO is an abbreviation of Charge and Move and is based on a play on words in Japanese - O cha demo ikaga deska - that translates as “We're drinking tea while we're charging.”

Endesa, the current European chair of ChadeMo, is currently hosting the association's 4th annual European meeting. Endesa became a formal member of the association – the largest in its field - in 2010 and is also involved in the development of the protocol and the connector. The association is now international in scope, with a membership of 316 businesses and government bodies, including more than 61 foreign car makers, charge manufacturers, recharge service providers and public utilities. Endesa and Enel are two of the five European companies representing the European electricity sector in the association (the others are the Irish company ESB, Germany’s E.ON and EDP of Portugal).

The ChadeMo (Charge and Move) standard addresses two issues: the communication language between the vehicle and the fast-charge point, and the physical connection of both (the connector). The Japanese utility TEPCO developed the standard based on a test programme which started in 2006 and employed around 300 electric vehicles in Tokyo. The results showed that the roll-out of fast charge infrastructure is key in expanding use of electric vehicles. That is to say, if the customer knows that they have access to a fast-charge point, they do not suffer from “charge anxiety” and run down their battery.