An article in my newspaper today, written by Louis Hansen of the Bay Area News Group, discusses ChargePoint's announcement of a new series of charging stations that will charge electric vehicles at rates of up to 400 kW - provided that they can handle that rate of charge. If they can not the new stations will be able to tell and back off the charge rate to the maximum that the vehicle can handle. ChargePoint CEO Pat Romano said that his company is building infrastructure for the next generation of electric vehicles.
The Express Plus DC chargers will work with almost any EV, including Teslas, Leafs, Bolts, and even electric buses and trucks. The first versions of the new charger are expected to be installed this summer.
In November, a consortium of automakers in Europe announced plans to build 350 KW charging stations across Europe, starting with 400 sites. The group includes Ford, BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Porsche.
However, Elon Musk hinted last month that Tesla is working on an upgraded Supercharger and joked that a 350 kW charger was too small. He said in a Tweet: "What are you referring to, a children's toy?"
