Gridserve trials 360kW EV chargers in bays designed for commercial vehicles

EV charging provider Gridserve’s Braintree Electric Forecourt has started testing next generation high power EV chargers, which it expects to soon roll out across the Gridserve network.

The ABB Terra 360, provides a maximum 360kW of power, giving it the ability to add around 60 miles of range in three minutes or fully charge an electric car in less than 15 minutes.

While this might seem a modest increase from the 350kW-capable units already in use, Gridserve says it is already providing industry-leading EV charging speeds and “marginal gains in all aspects of our performance are important to keep us moving forward.”

The new charger also offers dynamic dual-charging, meaning two vehicles can plug in and charge simultaneously, and the EV charger will dynamically distribute the power between both vehicles.

Significantly the new chargers are positioned in longer bays to cater for the increase in both commercial electric vans and electric cars towing caravans, trailers and even horse boxes – so called “long-load” charging.

Monitoring the usage of these new long-load EV charging bays will help future designs accommodate even bigger bays and megawatt-scale EV charging infrastructure in anticipation of the electrification of HGVs, says Gridserve.

The unit on trial at Braintree features a pair of CCS connectors but Gridserve says it is committed to supporting both CCS and CHAdeMO connector types for High Power DC charging.