Imagine a return operation with hundreds of electric cars that want to charge in the same place at the same time. Or a tourist spot that multiplies its population by three during the three summer months. Is it necessary to make massive charging points? Chinese automobile giant Wuling has come up with a solution: mobile charging stations, allowing charging stations to easily expand the number of points when demand increases.
Last week Wuling showed in Guangzhou two of these chargers with up to 141 kWh capacity: one the size of an ice cream cart and the other much larger, 2,280 x 940 x 1,969 mm high. In addition, they can drive autonomously.
The problem of queuing at charging stations on a bridge or holiday when the majority of vehicles on the road are electric is something that is already happening in China. The country is changing its vehicle fleet at an astonishing rate, which is only paralleled in the Scandinavian countries… which have a population equivalent to that of an average Chinese city. We analyze the evolution and China’s electricity commitment in this video:
Returning to these mobile and autonomous charging stations, Wulling ensures that this battery can move at a maximum speed of 5 km/h. The model with 141 kWh capacity It is the highest range and is advertised by $42,000a very reasonable price. The VA100T mobile energy storage and charging vehicle, smaller and more manageable, has 30 kWh, charges at 20 KW and sells for $11,000.
Wuling calls his device “Mobile Energy Storage and Charging Vehicle” (MESCV) and it has been created in response to the current needs of Chinese mobility, as we said. But it would not be unusual to see them in car dealerships, factories or workplaces where a portable power source or charging facility is required from time to time. The idea is that the MESCV will charge when electricity rates are lowest and can then dump its energy to other vehicles anywhere.
These new machines are, in the world of electric vehicles, the equivalent of a full gasoline can that could move only as far as needed. If it could travel faster and move on the road it would be even more interesting, but as a starting point it is something really promising.
