Microvast ultrafast charge station for electric buses begins operation in Chongqing
28 June 2012
The first commercial, ultrafast charge, electric vehicle charging station has begun operations in Chongqing, China. The 3,200 kW, 2,065 m2 charging station—jointly developed by Microvast and the China State Grid—includes six 400 kW individual chargers; each charger fills a bus battery in 5 to 10 minutes.
Commercial operation of this charge station is an important milestone for Microvast and the China State Grid’s joint development plan under which Microvast will introduce a new business model for EV deployment. Under the new business model, ultrafast charging stations will be financed, built and operated by utility companies much like gas stations are owned by oil companies today.
The ultrafast charge station is located at the Chongqing International Airport New Development Zone and is utilized by a fleet of more than 30 full electric transit buses and additional plug-in hybrid electric buses. The buses carry passengers from nearby high technology manufacturing areas to residential areas on 20 mile route and are powered by ultrafast charge Microvast LpTO batteries manufactured by Microvast Power Systems Co., Ltd., a Microvast subsidiary.
The International Airport Charging Station is the first of multiple planned charging stations scheduled for Chongqing as part of the cities investment plan to develop an advanced electric public transport system with more than 1,000 ultrafast charge EV buses.
The Chongqing Fast Charge Technology is an important piece of Microvast’s innovative CCT (Clean City Transit) Solution. Our technology, evaluated and demonstrated over the last year in six prototype buses, is now ready for commercial operation in Chongqing. The prototype buses have each driven more than 25,000 miles and we are confident in their continued performance. By operating this new fast charge station, more and more people will take advantage of our green technology and move towards zero emissions.
—Wu Yang, President and CEO of Microvast
HT eBus Power Systems Co., Ltd. has delivered 125 buses so far this year, and will produce up to 1,000 BEV and PHEV buses for Chongqing, equipped with Microvast’s fast charging technology.
Founded in 2006, Microvast, Inc. is a completely vertically integrated advanced power and technology company.
They're website says the station opened ops May 1st?
Posted by: kelly | 28 June 2012 at 09:01 AM
Electric or fuel cell buses can make a huge difference to air pollution in cities.
The degree of mortality which poor air quality creates there is only now becoming clear, so the advance is most welcome.
Posted by: Davemart | 28 June 2012 at 09:08 AM
what kind of batteries do these buses use?
Posted by: Herm | 28 June 2012 at 09:41 AM
It looks like they do NCM, which should mean good energy density.
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=289070
The cycle life would be my main concern.
Posted by: Davemart | 28 June 2012 at 11:30 AM
They say on their site that they use different chemistries.
I suspect they might have chosen iron phosphate for this application, where weight is not so important as in cars but high cyclability is.
Posted by: Davemart | 28 June 2012 at 12:00 PM
A 400+KW charger could recharge an average BEV in about 5 minutes. That would be enough for public road side stations. Major highway charge stations could each have a dozen + such chargers.
The local grid could be buffered with ultra caps to avoid over loads.
Charging future BEVs (quick charge or slow home charge) is not a major challenge.
Posted by: HarveyD | 28 June 2012 at 06:07 PM