http://www.thedrive.com/tech/26188/electrify-america-shuts-down-high-powered-charging-stations-over-cable-safety-issue
Electrify America Shuts Down High-Powered Charging Stations Over Cable
Safety Issue
Volkswagen's post-Dieselgate electrification campaign hits a small speed
bump.
By Stephen Edelstein
January 28, 2019
Electrify America, the organization created to invest $2 billion of
Volkswagen diesel-emissions penalties in zero-emission vehicle
infrastructure, has shut down certain electric-car charging stations
owing to a "potential safety issue" with liquid-cooled charging cables.
In a press release, Electrify America said it was shutting down the
majority of its high-powered charging stations over the issue. These
stations can charge at a rate of 150 kilowatts to 350 kW using
liquid-cooled cables supplied by Huber+Suhner. Electrify America
published a list of about 80 stations that will remain open.
"The safety of our customers is our highest priority," Electrify America
CEO Giovanni Palazzo said in a statement. "Out of an abundance of
caution, Electrify America is shutting down all of our stations that use
the Huber+Suhner high-powered cables until we can confirm that they can
be operated safely. We are confident that Huber+Suhner will investigate
and resolve this issue as quickly as possible."
In its own statement, Huber+Suhner said it had recommended all customers
stop using charging stations with the liquid-cooled cables "as a
precautionary measure" following a short circuit in one of the cables at
a test site in Germany. The company said no one was injured, and noted
that the cable in question was a "first-generation prototype" that
differed from the production models distributed to Electrify America and
others.
All affected stations are DC fast-charging stations that use the
Combined Charging Standard (CCS). CCS is one of three major standards
for DC fast charging, along with CHAdeMO and Tesla's proprietary
Supercharger standard. Lower-power 50-kW CCS stations, CHAdeMO stations,
and Level 2 AC stations (which charge at a slower speed) are not
affected. Not all electric cars can charge at the high-power stations in
question, so only certain drivers will be inconvenienced.
High-powered charging stations are being installed to allow faster
charging times, and to keep pace with growing battery-pack sizes as
automakers try to meet consumer demands for greater range. While the
money to build these stations is provided by Volkswagen as part of the
settlement for its diesel-emissions cheating, cars from all automakers
can use Electrify America stations.
Electrify America plans to install 2,800 charging stations nationwide by
June of this year. It's unclear whether this charging-cable issue will
affect the rollout.