Having just finished bringing up 150 kW and 350 kW chargers at its Baker site in Southern California, EVgo is now in the last stages of upgrading one of its existing charging sites in San Jose to use new 100 kW DC dispensers.

The renovation is taking place at the Whole Foods Market at 777 The Alameda just south of the San Jose International airport.

Two older ABB 50 kW chargers are being replaced by four new 100 kW charging dispensers made by BTC Power.

As shown above, the dispensers themselves are largely empty inside. The actual charger electronics is in the larger cabinets in the background between the two dispensers seen in the photo.

Each charging electronics cabinet contains four “power engines” that are each capable of putting out 50 kW. This installation is using two “engines” together per dispenser.

The new charging hardware is capable of charging at up to 1,000V and has cabling rated for up to 200A. The previous chargers were limited to 500V and 125A.

Because the new dispensers do not exceed 200A they are able to use conventional cables whereas the higher-powered units added at the Baker location support well over 300A and need to use liquid-cooled cables.

Each dispenser is dual-cabled in order to support both CHAdeMO and CCS style connector plugs.

Many existing EVs will charge at about the same speed on these new units but a few like the Chevrolet Bolt EV, Kia Soul EV, and Hyundai Ioniq Electric will now be able to charge somewhat faster.

The new Hyundai Kona Electric will be able to charge at its peak rate near 70 kW. The Jaguar I-PACE will also be able to charge at over 80 kW on this new equipment. This can add 100 miles of driving range or more in 30 minutes.

Some high-end cars coming out soon like the Audi-e-tron are capable of charging at over 130 kW and will benefit from faster chargers at other locations.

Categories: Charging

Tags: BTC Power, Chevrolet Bolt EV, EVgo, Hyundai Ioniq Electric, Hyundai Kona EV, Jaguar I-PACE