Porsche's Radical Charging Stations Will Charge an EV in 15 Minutes, Look Sleek

author: Vineeth Joel Patel   

Porsche may be an automaker with a rich history of making high-performance sports cars, but the German brand, like many others, is looking to electric cars as the future. Now that the automaker has officially axed diesels, it's clearly going all-in on electrified powertrains. 

The world is patiently awaiting the official release of the Porsche Taycan – the first all-electric sedan from the brand. While Porsche still hasn't released all of the juicy details behind the vehicle, we know that the sedan will have two electric motors for a combined output of 600 horsepower. Zero to 60 mph is expected to take just 3.5 seconds, while the vehicle will have a range of 310 miles.  

Porsche Develops Radical Charger For Upcoming EVs

While that all sounds fine and dandy, the thing that we're really interested in is Porsche's claim that the sedan will be able to get 80 percent of its range back in just 15 minutes thanks to an 800-volt charger. Porsche has provided more information on its chargers and provided a clear picture of what future consumers will interact with to charge their EVs. 

Porsche is an upscale brand, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to see that the automaker has envisioned a sleek radical design for the charger. The automaker has also developed a modular system to keep large, noisy, and unattractive components away from the actual part that drivers will interact with. The crane-like aspect of the system is where consumers will find the cable that they can attach to their car and a 10-inch touchscreen that helps with the charging process. 

In another location, approximately 300 feet away from the sleek, slender crane, sits the FlexBox that houses all of the hardware and necessary components for charging. Measuring in at roughly 4 feet x 4 feet x 4 feet, the FlexBox can come in different versions to hide different components, including the transformer, power electronics, or cooling components. 

Why Come Out With Unique Chargers?

There's also a third box, the ChargeBox, which is where the battery is housed. Depending on the configuration, the box features a 70- or a 160-kWh battery. For more popular charging locations, and for vehicles with higher charging capacities, a fully-equipped version with a combinable total of 320 kW of charging will also be available. When not being used by an electric vehicle, the ChargeBox has an additional buffer storage battery that's being charged. 

The unique charger will be fitted to roughly 200 Porsche dealers in the U.S. sometime down the road. While Porsche didn't state exactly how much consumers would pay to charge their electric vehicles up at one of these good-looking stations, the automaker has one that consumers can use for free at its engineering facility in Germany. 

In addition to being able to charge up the Taycan, the automaker is also looking to have consumers use the chargers with the brand's new plug-in hybrid models, which are expected to come out in the near future. It's unclear, though, if Porsche will only let owners of Porsche vehicles charge at the stations, like Tesla, or allow everyone to use them under Volkswagen's Electrify America program. 

Vineeth Joel Patel

Joel Patel has been covering all aspects of the automotive industry for four years as an editor and freelance writer for various websites. When it comes to cars, he enjoys covering the merger between technology and cars. In his spare time, Joel likes to watch baseball, work on his car, and try new foods