Portable charging stations

Overview of the status and impact of the innovation

Innovation 2

What

While most EVs have on-board chargers, portable charging stations can be used instead, particularly for two- and three-wheelers and light vehicles or as emergency roadside assistance. These chargers can be programmable, with advanced charging control and protection functions, or non-programmable, which is cheaper and simpler.

Why

This solution can reduce range anxiety for drivers of two- and three-wheelers and light vehicles. It also allows automakers to remove on-board chargers, reducing weight, cost and complexity.

BOX 3.6 Portable charging for a fleet of three-wheelers in India

eFleet Logix, a fleet operator of electric three-wheelers in India, charges its fleet twice a day at a centralised charging facility. The charging time is between two and four hours.

eFleet Logix learned that the simple portable charger technology typically used for lead acid batteries can damage lithium-based batteries through overcharging. Now it either charges batteries at a low rate (0.20-0.25 C-rate, meaning a five-hour charging time) with non-programmable chargers or uses programmable chargers with advanced control and protection functionalities to charge at a 0.5 C-rate, meaning a two-hour charging time.

Source: Source: (Das et al., 2020).

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