The CharIN path to Megawatt Charging (MCS): Successful connector test event at NREL.

At the facilities of National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) cross-industry representatives tested, provided feedback and evaluated the com-patibility of inlet and connectors for megawatt chargers. Among them were leading OEM’s, utilities, equipment manufacturers and suppliers.

This event enabled seven vehicle inlets and eleven charger connectors to test their designs together. NREL’s facilities offered a convening location to com-pare components across the seven different manufacturers represented with prototypes in the hardware evaluations with another six manufacturers participating virtually. Features like the fit, the ergonomics, the easy connection and disconnection and the thermal performance of the connectors and inlets were tested and evaluated by the participants. These are valuable results for opti-mizing, further developing the standard and to ensure consistent performance across connector and inlet designs. The event was followed by a virtual Char-IN task force meeting to review the evaluations.

The common goal of this event was to support the creation of a global meg-awatt charging system (MCS) standard to ensure the compatibility of con-nectors and inlet hardware from different manufacturers. Especially the Amer-ican CharIN member community contributed with the organization of this event and the valuable feedback to further development of an industry standard for megawatt chargers. The new CCS based standard will streamline market in-troduction and encourage market stability.

This event was sponsored by the Department of Energy, the California Ener-gy Commission, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Daimler Trucks North America, Gladstein Neandross & Associates and CharIN.

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