The first 400kW electric vehicle chargers have been installed by Vital EV in the UK, making them the most powerful chargepoints in the country. Sadly for EV owners, these will not be available for public use as the UK’s first liquid-cooled Kempower Satellite Chargers have been installed for testing prototype and production at the UTAC Millbrook Proving Ground.
Vital EV has been supporting the testing of electric vehicles at Millbrook for several years using a 40kW Kempower moveable charger, but this new installation significantly increases the power available and speeds up charging times at the facility.
“Vital EV has enabled us to deliver class-leading temporary charging solutions for our largest automotive events and we have always been impressed by their engineering expertise and resolve,” said Chris Palmer, principal engineer at UTAC.
“At 400kW, our new charging hub deploys the fastest charge in the UK and the whole process, right the way from the initial conversations to putting it into operation, has been seamless, and their engineering teams have kept us in close communication with all the updates,” he continued.
Each of the four Kempower satellite chargers is dynamically powered by a 500kW power unit, which helps make best use of the grid supply. The two 400kW chargers are fitted with liquid-cooled cables that are rated to 500A and capable of 500kW short-term boost.
“The completion of the UTAC project is just another example of our team’s expertise in delivering sophisticated EV charging projects and our ongoing commitment to achieving our customers’ charging goals,” said Vital EV director and general manager, Alex Rae. ”Vital EV is proud to be supporting UTAC in charging both production and next-generation prototype EVs.”
As part of its after-sales support, Vital EV says its networks team will continuously monitor the status of the chargers via its Occulus charging management portal, and carry out planned and reactive maintenance, including over-the-air (OTA) updates, to maximize charger uptime.
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