While some drivers take issue with EV’s lack of a gearbox and the sounds, smell, and vibrations of a gas-fed piston engine, the two most commonly cited drawbacks of modern electric cars are unquestionably range and recharge times. And while these metrics have vastly improved over the last half-decade alone, EV’s autonomy and refueling times still hugely fall short when compared to petrol-powered rides. This, however, may soon be changing as Switzerland’s ABB has just revealed what is undoubtedly the world’s best and fastest electric car charger by a pretty substantial margin.
Though the Swiss multinational firm dates back more than 130 years, it’s been involved in the EV charging infrastructure industry since 2010, and since then has developed and then sold over 460,000 charging stations scattered across the planet. Harnessing its more than a decade of R&D, ABB has managed to create what the brand has dubbed the “Terra 360.” The world’s first and only charger engineered specifically to replenish the battery pack of four EVs at once, the Terra 360 takes the concept of fast-charging to the next level, with the station boasting a 360kW output that allows it to deliver a 60-mile range after less than three minutes of charging. Obviously, an EV’s battery will also play a role in its charge time, though ABB has also stated that the Terra 360 can completely recharge any EV’s battery in no more than 15 minute’s time — making it hard to view ABB’s new all-in-one charger as anything but revolutionary. Also wheelchair accessible, the charging station uses an innovative yet simple and intuitive lighting system to guide the user through the charging process. The size of the Terra 360 also allows it to be installed in a wide variety of settings, from traditional gas stations to sidewalk chargers to units in parking lots and private residences.
ABB’s Terra 360 charging stations are slated to start appearing in Europe towards the end of 2021 and are scheduled to begin popping up in the US, Latin American, and the Asian Pacific markets sometime in 2022.
